NATCHITOCHES – The most dangerous lead to have in a volleyball match in Prather Coliseum is two sets to one.
 
At least that has been the case for the past two Northwestern State matches. The Demons rallied from a 2-1 deficit a week ago to defeat Lamar but saw their 2-1 lead slip away on Thursday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, falling to the Islanders 3-2 (23-25, 25-13, 32-34, 25-19, 15-11).
 
The Southland Conference's best offensive team hit better than .300 in two of the three sets they won using their lightning quickness to stay just ahead of the conference's best blocking team, that still finished the match with double-digit rejections.
 
"We could have done a lot of things better throughout the match and in that fifth set we just made some errors when you can't make errors," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Corpus runs their offense as fast as possible with their setter and we handled it well at times but the consistency with which they can do that is going to catch you out of position at some point."
 
A service error and two straight attack errors with the Demons (8-10, 4-3) trailing 10-9 in the final set provided just enough assistance to an already efficient attack allowing the Islanders to snap a six-match home winning streak for NSU.
 
Save for the second set that the Islanders ran away with 25-13, the night was a heated contest of volleyball at its highest levels.
 
NSU rattled off four kills in a 5-1 run to close the first set 25-23 and take the edge in the match. Tessa Gerwig accounted for three of the four NSU kills in the stretch, finishing with five kills on seven error-free swings in the opening frame.
 
The Demons responded well after the runaway loss in the second as the teams produced the tensest moments of the match in the marathon third set that well beyond the requisite 25 points.
 
The Islanders tied the set at 24 to force play beyond the 25-point mark, holding off a total of seven set points in the most thrilling portion of the evening's match. There were just two unforced errors from either team after the 24-point mark as the team battled beyond 30 on each side.
 
Two straight kills from Teresa Garza and Tessa Gerwig gave the Demons their seventh set-point opportunity at 31-30, but Corpus' top offensive option Kyndal Payne extended the match on her seventh kill of the set.
 
Over the final four serves though it would be the strength of the No. 14 ranked block in the nation that gave the Demons the edge. Reaghan Thompson and Teresa Garza connected on a pair of devastating blocks in the span of three serves to give NSU its eighth chance to close the set.
 
A Garza ace finished the marathon and gave the Demons the 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Seemingly unphased by dropping the dramatic set, the Islanders jumped ahead in the fourth to a 10-3 lead and kept the Demons at arm's length the rest of the way. NSU pulled within three on a couple of occasions but were unable to cut the lead down any further.
 
A 4-0 run early in the fifth set featuring two kills from Garza, another from Jordan Gamble and NSU's 11^th block made it a 6-4 NSU lead. Thompson tied the set at eight immediately following the turn, but the late errors after Burrell's kill were the demise for the Demons.
 
"Nobody said it was going to be easy," Kiracofe said. "It's just a matter of getting better every day and being ready when it does matter in that second match up with a team or the conference tournament. We're still in the first half of the conference schedule so we can go back and win all these splits and still be in contention for a regular season title, which I believe this team is fully capable of doing."