HOUSTON – Northwestern State could not overcome the quick start, relentless attack and tough bounces in Houston on Thursday, falling to HCU in straight sets 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-19).
 
The Huskies (17-8, 9-3) came out of the gate fast with two kills in their first two points but the Lady Demons (13-10, 6-6) were able to match point-for-point in the early going. Reaghan Thompson and La'Treva Kennedy got NSU's second block of the match on the 14^th serve to even the set at seven.
 
That block was the final attack error of the set for the Huskies who separated themselves from NSU with the ensuing 10-1 run scoring on 14 kills with no unforced attack errors in the set, for a match-best .444 hitting percentage to start the night.
 
The HCU offense continued to roll in the second set as the Demons struggled to find their footing while seeing Lady Luck sit squarely on the HCU side of the net. After a long rally during the 6-1 Huskies' run Jordan Gamble was in perfect position for a block at the net, but the attack from Audrey Pearce went straight into the top of the net and bounced over to the floor for a kill, just out of the reach of Ashlyn Svoboda.
 
Just one of the many bounces, passes, blocks and swings that were just that much off for the Lady Demons during the match.
 
After falling behind by six in the third set, NSU had its best stretch of play in the match stringing together three kills with a pair of HCU errors to close the gap to within three. Thompson, Kennedy and Gamble all scored for the Demons to make it 19-16.
 
The Huskies though responded with a block and three kills of their own to jump back ahead helping them secured the match.
 
Breanna Burrell led NSU with eight kills on the night and Svoboda led the way with 11 digs.
 
The Lady Demons return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.