PULLMAN, Wash. –  Northwestern State dropped its final match of Washington State's Cougar Challenge to Drake on Saturday afternoon 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-19).
 
"This was a great match for us from a learning perspective," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Drake had a very good season last year and returned a lot of talent. They are very disciplined and will consistently exploit your mistakes or inconsistencies. I thought we did a better job today building on what was working against them, making in-match adjustments, and we were also able to see some success from different players and line ups."
 
The Demons got off to a slow start in the match, falling behind 10-2, but after a pair of early timeouts to settle themselves, began to work their way back from the early hole.
 
Back-to-back kills from Makenna Tryon and La'Treva Kennedy served as the first spark of energy for NSU in the match, starting a 5-1 run to close the first part of the gap. A Bulldog kill pushed the lead back to seven but the Demons responded with four straight points punctuated by the second of a season-high 13 team blocks, a combo effort from Teresa Garza and Reaghan Thompson.
 
The duo of Garza and Thompson hooked up for five blocks throughout the match.
 
NSU added three more blocks on three consecutive points to pull within a point at 21-20 after holding Drake without an earned point for 10 straight serves. Kennedy connected with Tryon for the second in the run and added a solo to pull the Demons within a point.
 
Following a Drake timeout that broke the NSU momentum, the Bulldogs scored the final four straight points, getting help from three NSU errors, at 25-20.
 
Drake seized the momentum in the second set with a 4-0 run, getting the final two point of the run on a pair of blocks of their own, to stretch the lead to 11-5. The Demons quickly closed the gap though with a 4-1 run, that included kills from Garza and two from Tryon, to once again pull within a point at 14-13.
 
The Bulldogs came back with a 4-1 stretch of their own to reach the 20-point mark first and close the set with two kills in the final three serves to move ahead 2-0 in the match.
 
An early 5-0 run from the Bulldogs in the third set created the first bit of distance between the team in the final frame, and a 4-0 run later all but sealed the proceedings with three kills and a block.
 
NSU held off five straight match points with a Kennedy kill and two Piper Boydstun service aces, but the Bulldogs finished the match on the sixth attempt with a kill.
 
Thompson led the Demons with seven kills and led the match with nine blocks, already the 17^th match of her career with five or more blocks. Garza had five kills, six blocks and 12 digs in the match and Kennedy finished with six kills and four blocks.

With 16 kills and 14 blocks on the weekend, Thompson was named the Cougar Challenge All-Tournament team.