NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State and McNeese were expected to produce a defensive showcase in their second meeting of these season, and the two teams certainly lived up to the expectation.
 
An average of 24 digs per set for the conference's leading defensive unit kept the ball alive long enough for McNeese to find the points it needed in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) sweep of NSU on Thursday. 
 
"We had some crazy, long rallies that were very reminiscent of when we played at their place and they just didn't go our way at the end," head coach Sean Kiracofe. "You can flip a coin 10 times, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be an even split, they can all land on tails. That's the way it turned out for us.
 
"We were working hard on defense and they were doing the same. We just weren't able to put those points away."
 
The Cowgirls saw the coin flip land for them on nearly every significant rally in the first set. A couple of NSU attack errors and a McNeese kill pushed the Cowgirls ahead 10-4 early in the match thanks to a 6-1 run. Behind an efficiently paced offense with a match-best .273 attack percentage, McNeese pulled away for the 25-17 first-set win.
 
With multiple rallies ending with the ball touching on their side, the offensive frustration for the Lady Demons led to an uptick in attack errors in the second. Six unforced errors gifted the Cowgirls some key points throughout the set.
 
Despite the nine total miscues in the set, NSU held an 11-10 lead in the frame after consecutive kills from Jordan Gamble and Addison McDermott. But four of the six unforced errors came after that point leading to the 25-17 McNeese win.
 
NSU fell behind 11-3 early in the third set before capturing some of the signature energy and emotion home fans have come to expect inside Prather Coliseum.
 
A solo block from Reaghan Thompson and a combination stop from Gamble and La'Treva Kennedy sparked a 5-1 run that took the first big chunk out of the McNeese lead. A kill from McDermott and two straight from Madisynne McQueen ended a 5-0 run a few serves later that made it a one point game at 14-13.
 
McNeese built the lead back to five with a 4-0 burst, but a McDermott-Gamble block and another kill from McDermott started the responding 4-0 NSU run to make it 19-18.
 
"We woke up there a little at the end, especially after we got a few blocks," Kiracofe said. "Those are always big boosts for any team, from an energy standpoint. We saw glimpses of that big energy that we're used to having and playing with, especially at home, in the third. Hopefully the rest of the match tonight where that wasn't as present was just an anomaly."
 
A McNeese kill and consecutive aces swung the momentum to the other side of the net and provided enough separation for the Cowgirls to close the set and match with a 25-20 final.
 
McDermott led the Demons with seven kills on 26 error-free swings, adding three blocks on the night. Thompson also finished with seven kills with five blocks to lead NSU in points.