NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team showed a ton of fight in a 3-0 loss (25-20, 25-16 and 25-23) Saturday afternoon to the Houston Christian University Huskies in Southland Conference play at Prather Coliseum.

The Demons (1-15, 0-2 in SLC) came out ready to battle as the first set was tied at 18-18 following an ace by Makenna Tryon. NSU tied the match again at 20-20 after an attack error by HCU but the Huskies scored the final five points of the opening set.

The Huskies (7-8, 2-0 in SLC) controlled the better part of the second set as they led 19-10 before cruising to win in set two.

The third set was anything but easy for the Huskies as NSU had HCU with its backs against the wall. The Demons had a 19-15 lead following an ace by the conference leader in the category, Jade Longlad, followed by another attack error by the Huskies.

However, HCU battled back to tie the match at 21-21. The Huskies finished the match with two kills and took advantage of two attack errors by the Demons to hold off the valiant third set effort by NSU.

"This is a great group of kids we have," said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. "We are giving ourselves a chance but just are unable to get the big points in crunch time. But the effort and energy are there and now we just have to get the execution to match it."

The Demons were led by Elsie Sanchez Oliver with nine kills while Samaya Wesson had eight. Emmarie McFarland finished with 13 digs while Reagan Hamm added 16 assists.

The Demons will be back in action Thursday at 6:30 p.m. as they hit the road to take on UT-Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas.