NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State Demons volleyball team was defeated in straight sets by the East Texas A&M Lions (25-20, 25-23 and 25-20) Thursday night at Prather Coliseum as NSU's bid for a Southland Conference Tournament berth will have to wait.
NSU (14-16, 6-9 SLC) was led by
Olivia Nzioki with 13 kills while
Kenadii Winfrey and Elise Sanchez both had nine to pace the Demons' offense.
Jade Longlad had 35 assists as she passed over 1,400 career assists (1,410).
Emmarie McFarland had her 28
th game out of 30 matches with at least 10 digs as she finished with 19.
The Lions (12-16, 6-9 SLC) led by Gracie Campbell with 15 kills while Ariana Brown had 13 and Samantha Mosely added 12. Jade Washington helped the defense with 18 digs while Katelyn Pritchard added 23 assists.
ETAMU took the first set as they finished the opening set with 17 kills and only three errors on 29 attacks for a robust .483 hitting percentage. The Demons kept pace trailing 17-15 but an 8-3 run capped off by a kill by Brown sealed the first set for the Lions.
The second set was a battle wire-to-wire. NSU had a 21-20 lead after a kill by Winfrey. After
Amber Craig tied the match at 22-22 for the Demons, the Lions pushed ahead after a pair of kills and Demons' service era to clinch the second set.
In the third frame, NSU came out strong taking an 8-4 lead after another kill by Winfrey. However, the Lions went on a 12-3 run to push out to a 16-11 lead. The Demons tried to battle back cutting the lead to 17-15 followed by a kill from Sanchez. But it wouldn't be enough as the Lions pulled out to a 23-18 lead before a Demons' attack error ended the match.
"We did not adjust very well to their size," said Demon head coach
Ben Kaszeta. "We're going to go back and see how well we actually defended it on film. But we might have to change things up on Saturday."
The Demons will travel Saturday to face the Lions in a return match at 1 p.m. with the eighth seed in the conference tournament on the line.
"We know what's on the line but if we talk about it too much then we just put more pressure on ourselves," said Kaszeta. "Pressure is a privilege and if we treat every game like it's important then we will treat this one like that and we will be ready to go on Saturday."
