NATCHITOCHES – Facing the two teams picked to finish first and second in the conference in consecutive matches, Northwestern State knew the second full week of conference play would be a challenge.
 
After falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in five sets on Thursday, the Lady Demons (10-7, 3-3) pushed Houston Christian (13-5, 5-0) to the end in each set but ultimately fell 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 25-23) to the Huskies. 
 
"We played well we just weren't as efficient as they were in some areas and they won a couple big plays," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "I know that sounds kind of obvious, but we weren't able to be consistent enough to get it to five.
 
"It's another step forward for this group to know they can play with anybody. Now, it's a matter of playing well when we see them again at their place and in the tournament."
 
The Lady Demons benefited greatly from some early miscues but the visiting Huskies. Three HCU attack errors accompanied three NSU kills to give the Demons a 11-3 lead right out of the gate.
 
The Huskies settled into the match after a timeout and erased the early deficit with a precursor of the rest of the match. Five kills from five different players in the 7-1 run tied made it a one-point set.
 
In the Huskies' first two set wins they have five players record two or more kills each. The NSU defense was able to hold HCU's top two attackers Jada Allen and Anna Gadway to lower hitting percentages and less than 10 kills in the match, but the other options stepped up to fill the void.
 
"We did a good job of limiting certain things, but they have a lot of different option on who can score," Kiracofe said. "We allowed them too many easy balls to where we had too many good options to defend."
 
Needing the third set to keep the match going, the Lady Demons did what they have done so often already this year, finding a way to get the job done.
 
A match-best .270 attack percentage in the third, with an equally as spread out offense as they had been defending led to the 25-19 third-set win.
 
A 6-0 run early, featuring kills from Perry Flannigan, Breanna Burrell and Symone Wesley pushed the Deomons ahead 11-6, only to see the lead evaporate on a 6-0 answer from HCU.
 
Flannigan helped push the Demons ahead for good in the set on NSU's ensuing 8-2 run. Her four kills on six swings with no errors was one of the major difference makers along with Wesley's 10 digs in the fourth. 
 
"In that set we were able to spread out our offense a little more," Kiracofe said. "We got in a situation where we changed some matchups for no other reason really than to give some people something different to look at. During the break between three and four I said it wasn't the matchups that helped us win that set you just played better. That was important for them to know."
 
NSU nearly pushed a Saturday match to five sets for the third week in a row with a late 4-0 burst after falling behind 23-18. Two kills from Burrell, how finished with a match-best 15, her ninth straight double-figure kill match, and another from Addison McDermott made it a 23-22 set. 
 
Burrell held off the first match point but a kill from HCU's Sara Arroyo ended the set in four.
 
Wesley finished the match with her eighth double-double of the season on 11 kills and a match-best 28 digs, her fourth 20-dig match of the season.