STEPHENVILLE, La. – The Northwestern State volleyball team was defeated by the Tarleton State Texans 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15) Saturday afternoon at the Tarleton State Classic.

The Demons (1-5) opened the first set with a 7-3 lead on two aces from Reagan Hamm along with three kills from Elsie Sanchez Oliver as NSU appeared to be in good shape. However, the Texans (3-3) went on a 15-6 run to take an 18-13 lead and pull away for a 25-17 first set win.

In the second set, the Demons hung tough as they tied the match at 10-10 thanks to three kills from Deja Benjamin. But the Texans would once again take control in the second half of the set as they finished on a 15-6 run to take 2-0 lead.

In the third set, the Demons began in good shape as they led 7-2. The Texans committed four attack errors in the first nine points of the set as the Demons had the early lead. However, another late run doomed the Demons as the Texans scored 23 of the last 31 points of the match to pick up the win.

"We're battling each and every set," said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. "We're still working on growing our volleyball IQ in the game and not letting one or two points affect us so much. But we got better this weekend and are showing the fact that we can compete with better teams each and every game."

Sanchez Oliver led the Demons with seven kills while Benjamin and Makenna Tryon had six each. Jade Longlad had 14 assists along and three aces while Hamm had seven assists.

NSU will open the home portion of the schedule Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. when they take on ULM.