NATCHITOCHES – An electric atmosphere created by another record-setting crowd inside Prather Coliseum helped propel Northwestern State to a commanding match lead, but McNeese's stalwart defense and relentless offense pushed it through to a 3-2 (24-26, 24-26, 25-19, 25-15, 15-10) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The atmosphere inside Prather today was fantastic," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "That is college athletics at its best. We appreciate everyone coming out. It was great having all the alumni back and the energy leading up to the match was fantastic.
 
"We played really well in those first two sets and in some tight situations at the end of those sets. After that though there were times we did a good job following the scout and our assignment and too many times where we didn't. McNeese did what they do in serving aggressively and going as fast as possible."
 
The Demons (13-14, 9-7) were clicking through the first two sets of the match offensively. A total of 35 kills and just eight unforced errors during that time to hit a combined .272 to win both the first and second sets by the 26-24 finals.
 
Teresa Garza and Tessa Gerwig bookended a 5-1 NSU run with kills late in the first set that put the Demons ahead 22-19. Three McNeese kills and a Demon error later evened the set at 23, and after another Garza kill gave the Demons set point, McNeese's McKenzie Moore held off the winner with her fifth kill of the set.
 
After a McNeese error, Breanna Burrell gave NSU the 1-0 lead in the match on her fifth kill of the set.
 
After both teams had a better than 70 percent side out rate through the midpoint of the second set, the Demons took control after the media break, jumping ahead 23-17 thanks to a string of nine kills within a 10-point section. Reaghan Thompson accounted for three of the bunch while Symone Wesley scored on back-to-back swings to give NSU the commanding lead.
 
McNeese once again made a run to push things beyond 25 points, scoring seven straight points to take the 24-23 lead. Burrell broke the streak with her fourth kill of the set and Gerwig pushed the Demons ahead on the next swing before a Cowgirl attack error gave NSU the 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The aggressiveness of the NSU attack however dipped after second set, allowing the stout McNeese defense to keep plays alive for longer rallies and their top offensive option on the day in Moore take control of the game.
 
After 10 kills on 20 error-free swings in the first two sets, Moore upped her already impressive performance for the Cowgirls over the final three sets. The outside hitter found open lanes on extended rallies and cross court sets for seven kills in each of the third and fourth set to finish the match with 28 kills.
 
It was her serving run late in the third set that gave the Cowgirls the 19-13 edge that they held through the remainder of the set and turned the tide of the match on its head.
 
NSU totaled 17 kills in the final two sets compared to the 27 from McNeese who also out hit NSU .290 to .129 during that time.