NEW ORLEANS – Northwestern State opened the 2021 season with two tough tests in Tulane and Cal on Friday afternoon. 
 
The young Lady Demons pushed the Green Wave to five sets, falling 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 11-25, 11-25, 16-18), and were out hit by Cal in a sweep 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-13). NSU closes the weekend with a match against Alabama A&M on Saturday. The match originally schedule for 11 a.m. was moved up to 10 a.m. due to the impending weather associated with Hurricane Ida.
 
Tulane 3, Northwestern State 2
 
The roller coaster opening match of the season for the Lady Demons had plenty of highs, a big drop and an exciting finish, but ultimately ended in a five-set loss to Tulane. 
 
A .333 hitting percentage through those sets, including a .414 clip in the second, earned NSU a nice 2-0 lead, but 23 attack errors in the third and fourth left the door open for Tulane to force the decisive final set.
 
"When you go into the weekend with an open mind that everything we do is an opportunity for a learning experience, it's impossible to not be thrilled with the match against Tulane," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Yes, an experienced team puts that match away, but we are far from an experienced team. 
 
"So, to have a match point opportunity against a team that was very successful last season and returned all of that talent is a big step forward for this team on day one of the season."
 
The Lady Demons service kept them on the front foot for most of the first two sets. Five aces along with generally difficult to handle balls put the pressure squarely on Tulane's shoulders. Autumn Gentry's first ace in of the match capped 7-2 run giving NSU a four-point lead early in the opening frame.
 
Tulane tied the match later at 13 and the teams traded points until a pair of Green Wave errors opened the door for the Lady Demons. A kill from Addison McDermott, who finished the match with a career-best 12, and a solo block from Breanna Burrell created the edge NSU needed to come away with the 25-23 first set win.
 
Riding the momentum of the 1-0 match lead, the NSU offense looked its most dynamic and impressive in the second set. The .414 hitting percentage on just four errors paved the way for a dominant 25-20 set win.
 
Three different players had three kills in the set with McDermott leading the way with five kills on seven swings. It was a devastating swing from Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa out of the middle that sparked the 7-2 finish for the Lady Demons. The final four points of that stretch coming in order on kills from McDermott and Audrey Quesnel, a block from Symone Wesley and a Tulane error.
 
The heights of the first two sets and the all-around success, especially surrounding the offense, gave way to the depths of the next two sets. A combined 23 errors and 11 kills prevented gave Tulane plenty of room to storm back to even the match at two sets each.
 
The Green Wave had four separate runs of 5-0 or better during the third and fourth, cruising to 25-11 wins each time.
 
Down but not out, the Lady Demons responded with a fifth set on par with what they had shown in the first two leading to the first exciting finish of the year.
 
After falling behind 5-2 early, Wesley took the team on her shoulders doing her best to help pull out a season-opening win. The first of her five set-five kills, along with an ace from McDermott, brought NSU back within a point in the race to 15 and the win.
 
"We had a lot of good performances, and both Symone and Haley (Hoang) really had good matches to put us in a position to get a win," Kiracofe said. "Tulane focused a lot of attention on Symone to try to take her out of the match and she really handled that well. They also tried to avoid Haley as much as possible so that stat line of 21 digs is bigger than it may seem for a five-set match."
 
Two more kills from Wesley helped even the score a few serves later and NSU took the lead on consecutive kills from McDermott and Burrell. An NSU block and kill from Wesley gave the Lady Demons their first match point at 14-12.
 
Tulane held off two match points in a row, sparking a 4-1 run presenting it with the first of two match points. Wesley held off the first with her fifth kill but an NSU service error and Green Wave block ended the match two serves later.
 
Cal 3, Northwestern State 0
 
The Bears wasted little time in each of the three sets building a comfortable lead, forcing the Lady Demons to play from behind the entire time.
 
It was an 8-2 edge in the first set that created the early momentum. Kills from Wesley and McDermott later in the match pulled NSU within a handful at 15-10 but the margin only fell below five once the rest of the set.
 
Wesley's sixth kill of the opening set made it a 21-17 affair, but Cal scored four of the next five points taking the 25-18 set win.
 
It was a 6-1 lead for the Bears to start the second set before another pair of kills from Wesley and the first collegiate kill for freshman Kate Idrogo got NSU back within three at 7-4. The three-point deficit tripled quickly on a 9-3 Cal scoring run that truly turned the tide leading to the 25-11 second-set win.
 
The Lady Demons had little opportunities throughout the second as Cal engineered its best performance of the night with 16 kills on 27 swings with just two errors and a 90 side out percentage.
 
Four early kills from Idrogo, Garcia-Rosa and Wesley kept things close in the third until a pair of 4-0 runs turned a 5-4 Cal lead into a 13-6 advantage. The Bears answered each of NSU's kills the rest of the way with two or three points of their own cruising to the 25-13 set and match win.