NATCHITOCHES – Despite a season-high 16 blocks and 89 digs, the Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team was defeated 3-1 (25-27, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-22) in a highly competitive match by the Lamar Cardinals Wednesday night at home in Southland Conference action.
The Demons (12-12, 4-5 SLC) were led by
Emmarie McFarland with a career-high 33 digs while sophomore
Julia Whitfield and
Olivia Nzioki both had eight assisted blocks.
Elsie Sanchez led the offense with 16 kills while Nzioki and
Elizabeth Muguruza both had 13.
Jade Longlad had 45 assists to pace the offense.
The Cardinals (7-15, 4-5 SLC) were led by Nissan Martinez with 20 kills while Maja Malinowska added 16. Gabby Baker had 23 assists while Alexa Gonzalez had 13 digs.
"Credit to Lamar for attacking us in some tough ways," said Demon head coach
Ben Kaszeta. "They put triple blocks against Elsie after her hot start, and it got in here way. So, they made some nice adjustments. But I still really like the way we are competing and while I wish were on the other side of the equation tonight, things are still getting better every game."
In the first set, the Demons rallied from a 23-20 deficit after a kill and ace by Muguruza and an attack error by Martinez. NSU would take the opening set as Sanchez got back-to-back kills to break a 25-25 tie.
The Cardinals got out to a 15-8 lead in the second set and while the Demons made a run, they never tied or took the lead at any point in the frame. NSU closed the gap to 22-21 but that's as close at they got with Lamar clinching the second set.
The third set was a battle. The Demons led 15-14 at the media timeout and from there is a back-and-forth set. The set was tied 16 times and had six lead changes before the Cardinals pulled away for a 25-22 win after a Demons' attack error and a kill by Martinez.
NSU had a 20-18 lead late in the fourth set. However, the Cardinals scored five straight points to take a 23-20 lead. Sanchez's 16
th kill stopped the run momentarily, but it wasn't enough to prevent Lamar from sealing the match on a kill by Grace Hill.
"Lamar is a well-coached group of kids," said Kaszeta, "And that's exactly what I expected from them. I got to recruit five of those kids when I was still coaching there. They're incredible and great kids and are coached by a good friend (Lamar head coach Ariel Apolinario). They have two all-conference kids (Malinowska and Martinez) that are phenomenal. This team was exactly what I expected them to be. I was just hoping we would have enough to be on the winning side. But you're going to have those games."
Despite the loss, McFarland passed 700 career digs (731) while Muguruza's 13 kills was a career high as well.
Next up, the Demons will travel to Nacogdoches, Texas to face the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (13-9, 7-2 SLC) Saturday at 12 p.m. The Ladyjacks defeated the East Texas A&M Lions (9-12, 3-6 SLC) Wednesday night on the road 3-0.
