CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Deja Benjamin recorded her 400^th career kill for The Northwestern State Demons, but the team was defeated by the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15 and 25-18) Saturday afternoon in Southland conference volleyball action.\

The Demons (1-17, 0-4 Southland) came out strong as they had 15-11 lead midway through the first set highlighted by four kills from Samaya Wesson.

However, the Islanders (6-10, 2-2 Southland) rallied to tie the match at 22-22 before edging the Demons in the first set on three straight kills.

Despite the second set being controlled by the Islanders, Benjamin recorded her 400^th career kill with the Demons trailing 18-10. The Islanders would go on to take the second frame and the match.

"I'm proud of Deja," said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. "She has been through several system changes, and it shows a lot of maturity and grit for her to keep getting better."

The Demons had 33 kills led by Benjamin with 11 and Samaya Wesson with seven. NSU also had 31 led bv Regan Hamm with 14 assists and Jade Longlad with 12 assists.
NSU's hit percentage continues to improve as they finished the match at .187. Bejamin was 11-for-32 (.344) while Wesson was 7-for-19 (.316).

"That's also a sign of maturity," said Kaszeta. "It shows that we are getting better in the important areas of the game and I think it's a step in the right direction. This is a good group of kids that is grinding and trying to get better each and every match."

The Islanders had three players in double figure kills led by Kenna Buchanan and Tatum Mason with 12 and Logan Dyer with 11.

The Demons will be back in action Thursday night when they play on the road against the Southeastern Lions in Hammond, Louisiana at 6:30 p.m.