NATCHITOCHES – It took two sets for Northwestern State to really find the groove in Tuesday's home opener against ULM. By that time however it was a little too late as the Warhawks held on for the 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23) win between the two evenly matched teams.
 
"We were able to settle down a bit and run things where we had advantages," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "It wasn't until we had some hitting errors in the fourth that I thought we were losing grip.
 
"It was a frustrating night but something that we can improve on. Defense and ball control are our strength and we've got to be able to keep rallies alive. They out played us in those areas and that's a good wake-up call for us. It is a strength, but we've got to continue to work at it."
 
A back and forth opening set slipped away from the Demons near the midway point. Down 12-11 after kills from Audrey Quesnel and Breanna Burrell and a pair of ULM errors, the Warhawks used an 8-0 run to pull away to the 25-18 first set win.
 
The Demons held off three set points in the first and used that momentum to get an early lead in the second. 
 
A kill and an ace from Symone Wesley and a kill from Addison McDermott gave the Demons the early 3-1 advantage. As was the case the rest of the night however, the other team made a comeback. 
 
Four points was the largest margin the rest of the set coming after a 3-0 NSU run, courtesy of three ULM errors, was answered by a 4-0 Warhawk run, courtesy of four NSU errors. That was enough to see the 25-20 second set go the visitors and put the Demons against the wall to extend the match.
 
A long serving run from Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa set the tone early in the third. Three kills started the eventual 6-0 stretch and was accompanied by a pair of aces from the NSU middle. ULM closed the gap pulling back within a point nipping at the Demons' heels until a 4-0 stretch created some distance. 
 
The Demons nearly sprinted to the finish with a late 6-1 stretch on kills from Wesley, Autum Gentry and Audrey Quesnel. After a dramatic push from the Warhawks to prevent five straight set points, Quesnel buried her fifth kill of the set giving the Demons the 25-22 win.
 
Both middles shined for the Demons in the fourth and throughout the night. To go along with their nine blocks, they combined for 23 kills on 38 swings at times giving the Demons needed boosts of energy.
 
"I wish we could have gotten them the ball more," Kiracofe said. "But that goes back to our ball control in serve receive specifically. We cleaned things up a little bit but we kept pulling our setters off the net and Autumn did a good job of trying to force the middle in some situations, but we just weren't on the net enough to be able to get them the ball more."
 
With the Demons energized from the third set win it was game on for the fourth trying to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Neither team maintained a lead greater than three points throughout the final set. Only once did the Demons edge ahead by four after Kate Idrogo picked up a kill before a ULM error that made it a 17-13 match.
 
The Warhawks immediately trimmed the lead down to two and eventually one after consecutive kills minutes later. The Demons jumped on top one final time on Idrogo's fourth kill of the set, but the ensuing 4-1 run from the Warhawks was just enough to spoil the home opener.
 
Three Demons finished with double-digit kills led by Wesley and Garcia-Rosa's 12 each. Quesnel finished the night with a .588 hitting percentage with 11 kills. Wesley also tallied her first double-double at NSU with 11 digs and Haley Hoang reached the 20-dig mark for the second time this season.