NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Three solid starts for Northwestern State kept things close early, but three long runs by a Stephen F. Austin offense that was clicking all day lead to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-14) loss.
 
In one of the best offensive performances of the year, SFA (21-5, 9-1) committed just four errors through three sets en route to a .525 hitting percentage with three players going better than .625 in the match.
 
"Clearly SFA has physical talent, but what makes them good year in and year out, in my opinion, is their consistent execution," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "What we talked about before the match is, this is the best practice you can ask for because they are so consistent.
 
'When you don't do your job, find yourself even a little out of position or no matter how small the mistake you make they will score a point. The bright side of that is that you can pragmatically make corrections during the match and I thought we did that."
 
The Lady Demons (2-10, 0-10) caused two of the four SFA errors on the first two points of the match. Blocks from Ragan Ward and Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa and Ward and Audrey Quesnel put the Lady Demons up by two just two serves into the match.
 
After tying the match at four on an SFA service error, the first lengthy scoring run of the match started with three straight Ladyjack kills. The 13-2 run made the opening set a runaway, although one more NSU block, this one a solo from Breanna Burrell, accounted for the third SFA error of the match.
 
With just one more attack error in the match, an early swing in the second that made it a 4-4 game at the time, the Ladyjacks were near unstoppable finishing the second with their lowest percentage of the match, a still impressive .457.
 
It was an 8-0 run, featuring four straight kills from SFA's Kennedy Wright, that turned the second into another runaway at 25-12.
 
Just as the previous two sets began, the third saw the teams trade points through the first eight serves. An Autumn Gentry kill brought the Lady Demons within a point at 8-7, but the final SFA run of the match followed, this time a 9-2 stretch.
 
Down 17-8 late in the third, the Lady Demons got three straight kills in a 4-1 swing, including three from Garcia-Rosa gave NSU a late boost showing the continued fight and improvement through the season.
 
"Jayli had an absolute great match and I was proud of her," Kiracofe said of the sophomore transfer that finished the match with eight kills on 12 error-free swings. "Brea also had a good match but I really like how she handled certain bad situations she was put in when we got out of system. Those are the little improvements that are important to me."

Burrell finished with nine kills in the match just missing her fourth straight double-digit kill match of the year.
 
The Lady Demons end the spring season with two matches at Prather Coliseum next week beginning with New Orleans on Thursday evening.