DENTON, Texas – The Northwestern State volleyball team was defeated by the Little Rock Trojans 3-0 (26-24, 25-15 and 25-13) before battling undefeated UT-Arlington Mavericks to five sets before falling 3-2 (25-15, 19-25, 25-17, 21-25 and 15-13) Friday at the UTA-UNT Classic.

The Demons (1-9) came out strong in the opening set as the match saw 11 ties in the first frame. Elsie Sanchez Oliver led the way in the open set with four kills while Makenna Tryon had three. The Demons appeared on their way to the set win leading 23-20. However, the Trojans rallied back, scoring six of the next seven points on three kills and three attack errors by NSU to win the set.

It was all Trojans (3-4) in the second set. They had 17 kills in the frame, getting out to a 20-12 lead before cruising to a 25-15 win, closing out the match in set three.

The Demons finished the first game with 28 kills led by Deja Benjamin and Tryon with seven each. Reagan Hamm and Jade Longlad had 12 assists each while Emmarie McFarland had nine kills.

In the second game, the Demons pushed the Mavericks (7-0) to the brink. In the opening set, UTA controlled much of the action as they led 18-9 before cruising to the first set win.

The Demons, however, had other ideas for the rest of the match. NSU came out in set two and returned the favor getting out to a 18-9 lead before hanging on to a 25-19 tying the match at 1-1.

In the third set, the Mavericks kept the Demons at arms' length as they led by four points for much of the set before pulling away for a 25-17 win.

NSU didn't go away as they rallied back to take set four, 25-21. The Demons led by as many six, 20-14, before Elsie Sanchez Oliver's kill sent the game to a fifth set.

In the deciding frame, the Demons and Mavericks traded points as the match was tied at 7-7. UTA scored five of the next six points taking a 13-8 lead.

The Demons fought back to cut the Mavericks' lead to 14-13 before UTA's Sophie Ocampo got the kill to end the match as the Mavericks survived a five-star effort by the Demons.

"I thought we battled our butts off both games," said head coach Ben Kaszeta. "Even in the first match I thought we got a little better with some attackers hitting in the positives. Deja played a position she has never played in her life today and she did an awesome job. I thought we got better all day and especially in game two. We pushed a really good team to the brink today and I could not be prouder of our efforts."

The Demons were led by Sanchez Oliver with a season-high 18 kills. Samaya Wesson added 13 while Benjamin had 12. Longlad had 27 assists while Hamm had 20 while Tryon had 12 kills.