HOUSTON – It took longer than hoped for Northwestern State to settle into Thursday's match at Houston Baptist leading to a 3-0 (13-25, 16-25, 22-25) loss despite the improved performance later in the match.
 
A pair of long scoring runs, 6-0 in the first and 7-0 in the second, for the Huskies (6-7, 5-2) created plenty of separation early allowing them to cruise to the 2-0 overall lead. The Lady Demons (2-7, 0-7) kept finding pockets of smooth play in those sets before seemingly putting it all together for a tightly contested battle for the third. NSU hit .062 in the first two sets combined and jumped to a .200 clip for the final set.
 
"We kept improving during the match and a large part of what allowed that to happen was our passing in serve receive," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "I'm really proud of Bryce (Potter) and Brea (Burrell) for how they stepped into new roles with much more responsibility in passing."
 
Part of the improvement came from a formation change as the Lady Demons moved from their regular 6-2 formation to a 5-1, allowing freshman Breanna Burrell to finish with seven kills in the final set.
 
Burrell found her groove in the second and continued to score for the Lady Demons to start the third. Four kills accounted for the first four points for NSU in the set, giving the early 4-3 advantage to the Lady Demons.
 
"Brea really woke up offensively," Kiracofe said. "Being in a 5-1 and on the court six rotations helps with that, but she took full advantage. It allowed us to see a glimpse of the offense we have been running for the past five seasons."
 
Addison McDermott tied the match at six moments later as the teams traded points one-for-one over the next seven serves. Another Burrell kill, followed by a Huskie error, nudged the Lady Demons ahead at 13-12, but three straight points from HBU sent the lead in the other direction.
 
Burrell's seventh kill of the set brought the Lady Demons back within a point at 17-16, but it was the ensuing 6-1 HBU run that all but ended the night. NSU made a final push down 23-17 thanks to a pair of crucial blocks from Burrell and Audrey Quesnel and another from Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa and Autumn Gentry.
 
Gentry pulled NSU within a point once again with a late kill, forcing HBU to call a timeout to halt the 5-0 run. The break in the action worked as the Huskies final two points came on kills from Anna Gadway and Jada Allen securing the straight set sweep.
 
Burrell led all attackers with 12 kills, matching a season high she set against Grambling. Gentry turned in her third dig-assist double-double in the last four matches with a team leading 19 assists and 11 digs.
 
"Autumn had another good night with the 5-1 change playing a role in that as well," Kiracofe said. "She was good on defense and able to provide some offense while she was in the front row, but what's more important is that it allowed us some consistency when it was needed."
 
The Lady Demons return to action on Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum for a 1:30 first serve against UIW.