NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State's normally vicious two-pronged outside attack was bested on Tuesday night by power swings from a pair of Texas A&M-Commerce arms.
 
The Lion offense was carried throughout the night by outside hitters Kitana Tuufuli and Reese Fetty who combined for 35 of the teams 51 total kills on attack percentages greater than .400 in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19) sweep of the Demons in the Southland Conference opener.
 
"We didn't do our jobs defensively and then when we had opportunities to make plays we didn't," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "With our setting situation and running Gabby (Seeds) across the front row we're always going to be small there but we've been small all year and played teams with decent outsides and been able to do something against them. Tonight, we couldn't."
 
The extremely effective and efficient Lion attack started right away with Reese and Tuufuli collecting 15 kills in the fist set on just one combined error. The lone hitting miscue between the two hitters came late in the frame and served as a key point for the Demons.
 
It began a 3-0 NSU burst that was followed by an ace from Teresa Garza and the fifth of Reaghan Thompson's six kills in the set to even to score at 20. The Lions made no more mistakes the rest of the set with five kills on their 5-3 scoring stretch to win the first.
 
Thompson continued her hot start into the second set after 12 error-free swings and six kills in the first, keeping pace with the relentless swings coming from the Lions outsides. She had 10 kills through two sets without an error, accounting for the bulk of the NSU offense on the night.
 
She finished the night with 16 kills and just two errors, adding six more kills in the third set, to lead the team, but her regular scoring partner, Teresa Garza, was held in check throughout the night by the Lion defense.
 
"We have shown that we have the best two combination of outsides in the conference," Kifacofe said. "We did not get production out of Teresa tonight. Her and Reaghan have scored the majority of points and nobody else has two outsides that are scoring the way they are. 
 
"We've been looking for how we can get a third or fourth option to supplement a little bit more points and we're going to be able to do a lot of good things. Take away the point production we're used to from Teresa and nobody else stepped up to do much more than what they were already.
 
Garza had just one kill in the first two sets with Thompson's 10 accounting for nearly half of the Demons' total through that time.
 
Despite the rare off night from Garza, the Demons went down to the wire in the second set with a chance to even the match at one set each.
 
A Deja Benjamin kill against her former team started a 3-0 run that was capped by a Benjamin combination block with Madisynne McQueen pulling the Demons within a point at 19-18. The Lions quelled the momentum with two more kills from their hot hitters to move ahead by three, enough of a cushion to secure the final points and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
'You combine us taking swings that were gifts to them, us not doing our job defensively and giving us a chance to get some transition points, for us to only lose the first two sets by a couple points – we were right there," Kiracofe said. "We're the ones that are making it difficult on ourselves. The fight was good in the third but if you do just a few things different in the first two and it's an entirely different match."
 
NSU fell behind 19-11 in the third set as the Lions continued to swing away scoring seven straight points on kills during the decisive 9-1 run in the third. The Demons outscored Commerce after reaching the 15-point mark but the scoring flurry came too late in the set.
 
The Demons continue SLC play on Saturday when they host Nicholls at 1 p.m.