NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State could not have asked for a better, more crisp start to Thursday's match with Southeastern. 
 
Clean passes, strong kills, devastating blocks and everything in between gave the Lady Demons a commanding 2-0 lead. The Lions however, used their experience and talent to claw back from the jaws of defeat to escpae with a 3-2 (23-25, 17-25, 25-8, 25-19, 15-12) win.
 
"Of course, we would want the win but it was a good match," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "I love the match if you're going to talk about our last weekend and being able to respond from that. It was everything I could have asked for. Southeastern is one of the best teams in the conference so this performance mattered because that's as good as they can be, and we pushed them to the limit."
 
The Lady Demons (13-12, 6-8) played with rhythm and authority through the first two sets of the night.
 
Addison McDermott helped get NSU out to the strong start and into the flow it wanted with a strong early serving run. Two aces from the senior utility player were accompanied by kills from freshmen Reaghan Thompson and Madisynne McQueen as well as a block from the young duo.
 
The 6-0 run helped set the tone for the Demons.
 
After seeing the Lions close the gap and take a late lead of their own on a 4-0 swing, NSU recaptured the early success with a pivotal stretch of play to secure to opening win.
 
Two of the Lady Demons' five first-set blocks came on back-to-back serves, both from the combination of Breanna Burrell and Jordan Gamble, giving NSU set point. McDermott came through with her fourth kill of the frame for the 25-23 win.
 
McDermott repeated her early service run again in the second as part of an overall 8-1 run for the Demons where they built a commanding 14-5 lead. Once again however, the Lions foreshadowed what was to come by climbing back to within three on four straight kills later in the set to make it 18-15.
 
That was as close as they would get as NSU got three straight kills, including one from libero Ashlyn Svoboda, before another block set up yet another set point.
 
Thompson and McDermott provided the final blow with ultimate authority getting NSU's eighth block of the match for the 25-17 set win. With the stop Thompson became the first freshman in program history to record 100 blocks in a season, and just the sixth player to accomplish the feat.
 
"That's a huge accomplishment and any time you're talking about being the first to do anything it's special," Kiracofe said. "Very proud of her and we absolutely knew from day one that was something she was capable of doing so it's great to see her actually do them. She's been able to do well over a long period of time and can't wait to see what she can do in her career."
 
The extended break between the second and third sets allowed just enough time for the fire underneath the Lady Demons to cool opening the door just enough for the Lions to creep through.
 
Southeastern blitzed through the third set with its best attack percentage of the night, providing enough belief for the experienced squad to push the door open completely.
 
After falling behind in the fourth set, McDermott's serve rotation once again gave NSU life on a 5-0 swing that made it a 13-11 affair, but NSU traded points the rest of the way and were unable to close the gap further.
 
Thompson helped spark a 4-1 run in the fifth set with one of her 11 kills and got help from Symone Wesley on a block that put the Demons up 8-7 at the turn. Even after a momentum defining call on a block challenge that made it a one-point match late in the set, the Demons were unable to over the ledge to pull themselves to victory.
 
"We passed fantastic in the first two sets," Kiracofe said. "We let that dip a little bit in the middle but rebounded to give ourselves opportunities, but we ran into an experienced and good team that was able to close it out when it mattered most in a few points. 
 
"It is what it is, but we're a young group in the big picture and if you continue to get yourself in those positions and those kinds of moments in five-set matches or whatever it may be against really good teams, that pays off."
 
Thompson recorded the first kill-block double-double of her career with 11 kills and 10 blocks, her second double-digit block match of the season. McDermott set a new career high with 20 digs, joining Wesley in the 20-dig club for the match.