NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Northwestern State Demons battled the McNeese Cowgirls all three sets before falling 3-0 (25-21, 25-20 and 25-23) Wednesday night in Southland Conference volleyball action at Prather Coliseum.

The Demons (1-20, 0-7 SLC) came out strong as they had an 11-6 first set lead following a kill by Deja Benjamin. After the Cowgirls (6-13, 2-5 SLC) tied the match at 13-13, it was a back-and forth battle for much of the remainder of the set. The match was tied nine times before McNeese broke a 21-21 tie with four straight points to clinch the set.

The Cowgirls came out in the second set and appeared to be in control as they took an 11-5 lead after two kills and an NSU attack error. But the Demons had other ideas they as they crept their way back into a match after a kill from an unlikely spot, freshman Harper Cauley. The Ruston, Louisiana native, Cauley entered the match without a kill on the season but had four Wednesday.

"It was so unexpected that I did have to hit," said Cauley. "I think it helped bring the team energy because it's not something I normally do but I was in a spot to do it tonight and it was fun to help the team in that way."

However, following Harper's kill the Cowgirls went on a 6-0 run as they took the second set putting NSU's backs against the wall.

The Demons did anything but throw in the towel in the third set. They battled relentlessly after falling behind 6-1 and cut the lead to 12-11 following a kill by Olivia Bush. The Cowgirls kept the Demons at arm's length for much of the rest of the set until Benjamin slammed down her 10^th kill of the match. NSU trailed just 24-23 but McNeese's Gracjana Rozanska recorded a kill to clinch the match.

"If we didn't have good kids we wouldn't compete," said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. "But this group comes in and battles every day and works hard every day. It's a testament to the character of this team because they want it. Right now, it's just coming down to not quite being able to make the big plays in crunch time."

NSU finished with 40 kills led by Benjamin and Samaya Wesson with 10 each. The 40 kills were the third most of the season for the Demons (54 against UT-Arlington and 42 against Tennessee State) as they also hit .233 with 104 attacks and 17 errors. Reagan Hamm finished with 22 assists while Emmarie McFarland had 11 digs.

McNeese was led by Kayla Wilson as the Cowgirls won their fifth straight over the Demons.

Next up, the Demons will play on the road Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against the Nichols Colonels (10-9, 0-6 Southland) in Thibodaux, Louisiana.