LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State once again showed improvement on offense, matching a season low with 13 errors, but still could not find the offense to pull out a win on Saturday, falling in straight sets to McNeese 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22).
"Serving is part of our game that didn't show up today that is usually something we can count on," sixth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "McNeese has shown they can struggle in serve receive but we were only able to pressure them in a few situations in each set."
The typically consistent NSU serve did not give McNeese as much trouble in transition as it had other teams this season. With only two aces, a season low, the Lady Demons only forced the Cowgirls into difficult position a handful of times throughout the match.
On the other hand, the McNeese serve gave NSU fits all match. A string of three straight aces in the first set pushed the McNeese lead to 15-9, starting a 7-1 run that gave the Cowgirls an eight-point edge. The Lady Demons held off four straight set points later in the opener before a Kendall Glueck kill ended things at 25-20.
It was a 7-0 run in the second, filled with four McNeese aces, that pushed the home team ahead 10-3. Another late push in the second with kills from Autumn Gentry and a block Addison McDermott and Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa closed the gap but McNeese took the second and the 2-0 lead.
The teams battled back and forth through the majority of the third until McNeese strung together a handful of points in short succession. Three separate 2-0 runs from the Cowgirls turned the match from a 15-15 match into a 21-17 affair.
A pair of McNeese attack errors prevented the final point from falling, but Regan Stiawalt, who led all players with 13 kills, ended the match in a 3-0 sweep.
McDermott and Audrey Quesnel led the Lady Demons with six kills each, with Quesnel getting hers on 16 error-free swings. Gentry and Ragan Ward finished the match with double-digit assists and Haley Hoang had 13 digs in the match.
"Audrey had a great match and was extremely efficient when we could get her the ball," Kiracofe said. "On that same note, it really was one of our better offensive games when it comes to hitting percentages, but their aggressive serves were able to make it difficult to take advantage of that."
