NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State may not have gotten the result it wanted in the conference home opener on Thursday, but it most certainly presented itself as a force to be reckoned with in the Southland Conference.
The Lady Demons (10-6, 3-2) played their seventh five-set match of the season, taking a 2-1 lead into the fourth before the speed, diversity and efficiency of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-15, 3-1) offense proved too much to overcome in a 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-14, 15-8) loss.
"We just went five with the two-time defending champs and preseason number one," head coach
Sean Kiracofe said. "They do not have the record that looks impressive right now, but they are not their record. As bittersweet as it is, we put ourselves in the conversation of being with the top group of the conference."
After jumping out to an early lead thanks to some effective serving, the Lady Demons had trouble slowing down Corpus' Kyndal Payne in the first set. Her 12 kills helped carried the Islanders back from the deficit to even things at 13.
The pivotal run came immediately after Payne tied the match with NSU jumping back ahead with a 6-1 stretch thanks to kills from
Breanna Burrell and
Symone Wesley and the lone service ace of the match for the Demons from
Laura Weatherford.
A late 4-0 burst from the Islanders brought more tension to the final points, but a service error and a
Perry Flannigan block gave the Demons the 1-0 lead.
Corpus used a 5-1 run of their own late in the second set to create the separation they needed to even the match at one set each after the teams traded side outs nine straight times to that point.
After a 4-1 run late in the third it appeared as if the Islanders were going to take the 2-1 match lead, but Burrell had other plans for the final serves of the set.
Four Islander errors in six serves evened the set at 20, providing the spark of momentum that lit the cannon attached to Burrell's right shoulder. The sophomore bombed two straight kills to give NSU the lead and added two more missiles at the end including the set winner.
She swung 11 times total in the set, finishing with nine kills and no errors, helping her set a new season high with 18 kills on the night.
"She had a great night offensively and against a team that it's not easy to do it that," Kiracofe said. "Their libero is really good and they commit block so much, but she went out there and still scored and had a fantastic night."
The Islanders played three sets sending the majority of their attacks to the outside for Payne and the middle for Leah Stolfus. While they still got their fair share of attempts in the final two sets, Corpus was better able to spread the attack from pin to pin in the fourth and fifth creating difficult situations for the NSU defense.
Four kills from three different players during a 5-0 run in the fourth was the turning point of the set that ended with a 25-14 final sending the match to the fifth, giving the Islanders the momentum they needed.
Payne and Stolfus combined for six kills with no errors in the fifth, giving the Islanders the five-set win.
"When given the chance their back-row player fires a tempo dig at the net knowing that it can turn into an offensive opportunity for them." Kiracofe said. "So, it's one of those things where you don't want to make errors, but you still have to be aggressive in some way. We were at times and others we weren't.
"Against everyone else we've played in the conference we've been able to hold our own because our block is so good, and our defense is improving every time we go out there. But because of the speed of their offense they create some situations that are hard to defend."
NSU returns to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Prather Coliseum against Houston Christian.
