NATCHITOCHES – It was far from the typical performance for Northwestern State on Thursday night against Lamar, but the old adage of a win is a win still held true.
 
The Demons (8-8, 4-1) fought tooth and nail through five sets against the Cardinals to pull out the 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 15-11) to pick up their sixth home win of the season in seven tries. 
 
Despite having fewer kills, digs and for just the third time this season fewer blocks than Lamar (0-15, 0-4), the Demons got all of those things in the key moments, especially down the stretch that pushed them to the victory.
 
"We found a way to win in a unique fashion, not necessarily in the statistical categories we're used to so far this season," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We had to do some different things lineup wise and made some decisions at the end of the first that we shouldn't have and it cost us there, but a win is a win."
 
Despite neither team playing with prolonged periods of clean passing, setting and swinging through the first two sets, each side found a way to put together late runs to steal set vicories.
 
NSU saw the first set slip away after holding a 22-16 edge only for the Cardinals to close with a 9-1 run. But the Demons turned the tables immediately in the second with a 9-2 stretch to finish off the second set and tie the match at one set each.
 
Kills from Breanna Burrell, Jordan Gamble and Teresa Garza during the run were the first instances of clutch plays and swings that NSU saw in spades down the stretch.
 
Through the entire match the scrappy Lamar defense found ways to keep balls alive and off the ground even as the Demons were hammered swing after swing at their back line. The switch to more of a finesse game paid off for NSU as tips over the block and cut shots to vacated parts of the floor began to find their way home with more regularity late in the match.
 
"It can be frustrating to take those swings thinking that you have a kill and even if it's a shanked ball they were working really hard to keep those balls in play," Garza said. "We did a really good job of helping each other know what was open. We were talking through what was open, what wasn't and trusting each other when it was there and when it wasn't."
 
After dropping the third set 25-19, and battling through most of the fourth set with only one or two points separating the teams, the Demons seemed to hit their stride and snap back into NSU volleyball late in the fourth. 
 
A kill from Symone Wesley followed by a powerful block from Gamble and Makenna Tryon sparked a 7-2 run to give NSU the largest lead of the frame at 21-17. The Demons earned every point in the run with five kills, a block and an ace.
 
Garza finished the fourth set with seven kills with just one error and added three more in the fifth with no errors to her team-leading and career-best matching 19 on the night.
 
"Coming down the stretch I think we played fearlessly," Garza said. "Not afraid of the block or getting dug and just play like you're going to get the kill every time. Playing with that confidence really helped and having supportive teammates to cover when you do swing into the block. Just going up every time expecting to get the kill knowing they had my back the whole way."
 
The trust and fearlessness carried through into the fifth set with the Demons gong on a 6-1 run behind three kills and two more blocks to set the tone for the critical final frame.
 
Garza and setter Amina Attra each picked up their second straight double-doubles in the match with Garza just missing the ninth 20-kill, 20-dig match in NSU history with 19 kills and 21 digs. Burrell added 13 kills with just three errors, adding a near double-double for her with eight digs.
 
"It's almost a tiny bit of a blessing to find ourselves in a difficult five-set match right after dropping one that we felt we should have had," Kiracofe said. "To get in that situation immediately and get it off your mind and move on is a good thing because losing one like we did Tuesday is something we're just not used to."