HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Northwestern State opened the 2024 season on Friday with a two-match split against a pair of "Southern" teams.
 
The Demons (1-1) took a set from the host Southern Miss in their season open before falling 3-1 (25-20, 15-25, 25-15, 25-21) to the Golden Eagles. They finished the day however with a win against in-state foe Southern by the same 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23) score line.
 
NSU closes the weekend in Hattiesburg with a 12 p.m. first serve against Jacksonville on Saturday.
 
"Considering the changes and challenges we've had going into this year it was a great overall day," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "There were noticeable improvements from the exhibition match and we still have more potential to grow into. Of all the bright spots versus Southern Miss, the way we fought to the last point stood out to me the most."
 
There was virtually zero separating the Demons and Golden Eagles in the first set of the day. Both team had the exact same number of kills (12), digs (11), aces (5) and blocks (1) in the first race to 25 points. The costly measure for Northwestern in the first set, and ultimately the match, were the five attack errors that helped Southern Miss to the 25-20 first-set win.
 
In the only set NSU won during the match, coming in decisive fashion in the second, there were only two attack errors by Demon hitters, one of those coming on an over swing by libero Ashlyn Svoboda.
 
The .379 hitting percentage in the second was the best by NSU or either of its two opponents in any of the eight sets played on the day.
 
From that point forward however the Demon offense could not maintain its efficiency and the Golden Eagles continued to feed their hot swing in the form of outside hitter Sadie McAda.
 
The sophomore collected 11 of her 20 kills in the match over the final two sets after going the first three sets without a hitting error on 32 total attempts.
 
In a tight fourth set with the Demons trailing 18-17 after two kills in three serves from Reaghan 
Thompson, it was the same formula from McAda that pushed the Golden Eagles ahead for good. Her pair of kills came as part of a 4-0 burst making it a 22-17 game.
 
The Demons fought back to within a pair with a 4-1 run on kills from Amina Attra and Olivia Bush, but once again McAda scored twice in three serves to keep the Demons at bay leading to the final attack error of the match by NSU and the 25-21 loss.
 
With just a short break between matches, the Demons reset well for a pair of convincing set wins over the Jaguars.
 
A 7-0 scoring and serving run from Teresa Garza erased an early Demon deficit. It was part of a larger 11-2 stretch with the final four points coming on kills from Thompson, Samaya Wesson and Gabby Seeds and a block from Thompson and Deja Benjamin.
 
NSU benefited from 11 Jaguar attack errors in the first set and 27 total in the three sets that it won. Of the 27 Southern errors though, only 12 in the match were unforced as the stout Demon block had its first monster appearance of the season.
 
Led by newcomer Deja Benjamin, the Demons put up 15 total rejections against Southern with Benjamin accounting for a new career high of nine. Five blocks in the first set and six in the fourth helped give NSU the edge it needed to combat the challenging Jaguar serves.
 
Southern produced 10 aces in the match, with half of those coming in its critical third-set win to extend the match to a fourth set. Zaria Nelson and Marian Attaway accounted for seven of the Jaguar aces in the match.
 
"We saw Southern last year but didn't play them when we hosted Battle for the Boot," Kiracofe said. "They were good last year and have improved. Serving is one of their strengths and that definitely affected us during the match. Getting tested like that will be good for us this early in the season."
 
The Demons used a 6-0 run at the end of the second set to take the commanding 2-0 lead in the match. It was again Garza at the serving line for the long scoring run that also saw kills from Thompson and Wesson before a Demon ace cemented the final point.
 
By the middle of the third set the fatigue of the day and consecutive matches began to take a toll on the Demons. A 6-0 Jaguar run put them ahead midway through the frame, and despite an impressive comeback to even things up at 21, Southern held off the match sweep with a 4-1 scoring run to close the set and send it to the fourth.
 
"We knew even before the game started we would have to be mentally tough and push through," Thompson said. "Southern is such a high energy team so we knew we would have to match it. When we would be down, we knew what we were capable of and kept calm which is already huge compared to last game against Louisiana Tech. 
 
"I know I started struggling in the back row there so I definitely had to have a little mental reset a few times there but overall I think we did amazing keeping the energy up after playing a long four sets against Southern Miss."
 
Tied at 10 in the fourth, Thompson and the Demons tapped into their reserves to make a push towards the first win of the season.
 
A 7-2 run pushed them ahead on the strength of Thompson's impressive offensive match and the brick wall style block at the net. Benjamin connected with Olivia Bush for one of two blocks in the run, Bush getting a solo stop later making it a 16-12 game on a kill from Attra.
 
The Demons reached match point on back-to-back kills from Garza and Thompson at 24-17. Four NSU attack errors and two Jaguar kills later, Southern had cut the lead down to one with intentions of forcing extra points or a fifth set.
 
In just her second match on the outside, Thompson shut down any thoughts of extra anything with her 21^st kill of the match, becoming the first player since Hannah Brister in 2019 to record 20 kills in a single match for NSU.
 
She finished the match with a .400 hitting percentage on 35 total swings as the Demons hit .227 as a team. Garza added 14 kills with just four errors for the second most of any player in the match.
 
"I didn't even know I had that many kills," Thompson joked. "My coaches and I laugh about the fact that I 'just play volleyball.' I'm kind of in lala land when I play. I never know where I am on the court or the score or any of that. 
 
"Coach Stacey (Aldredge) was the one who let me know about my kills when I was able to get back on my phone after the match. Hannah Brister is who the coaches have been talking to me about since I'm a new outside hitter so being anywhere close to her is pretty cool. I'm starting to get the hang of my new position so we'll see. Definitely still have work to do though."