CARROLLTON, Ga. – The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team split two matches as they were defeated by the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in straight sets 25-17, 25-20 and 25-13 in the first match before beating the Grambling Tigers 25-15, 25-19, 22-25 and 26-24 to wrap up the West Georgia Tournament Saturday afternoon.
The Demons (1-2) fell behind early against Presbyterian (2-0) and never recovered. NSU had 34 kills led by
Olivia Nzioki with 11, but the Demons hit just .069 for the match. The Blue Hose, on the other hand, had 35 kills and hit .333 as they finished with just six attack errors to 26 for the Demons.
NSU was aided by nine kills from freshman
Gillian Grace Wolf and 13 digs from sophomore
Emmarie McFarland. But it was the consistency of the Blue Hose' attack that was too much for the Demons as the .333 hit percentage was the highest against NSU since McNeese hit .368 back on Oct. 15 of last season.
In the second match against Grambling (1-2), the Demons came out on fire as they dominated the opening set, 25-15, highlighted by four kills from Nzioki and a hitting percentage of .419. NSU led the first set 19-12 before capping it off on a kill by freshman
Amber Craig.
In the second set, the Demons had an 18-17 lead late in the set. But kills by
Amber Craig,
Kenadii Winfrey and
Elsie Sanchez along with an ace from Sanchez and an attack error by Grambling gave NSU some breathing room at 23-17. Ultimately, it was Wolfe who sealed the second set with a kill to give the Demons a 25-19 victory.
In the third set, NSU found themselves in a hole trailing 16-12. However,
Jade Longlad's kill and ace, two kills by Craig along with two attack errors by the Tigers gave the Demons the 18-16 lead. However, the Tigers responded with four straight points on two kills and two attack errors by the Demons to make it 20-18 GSU. NSU couldn't recover and dropped the third set 25-22.
In the fourth frame, things stayed locked up nearly the entire set as the match was tied at 20-20 with neither team giving an inch. The match was tied 15 times but three straight kills by Nzioki and Sanchez and an ace by Wolf gave NSU a 23-20 lead. But again, the Tigers rallied back to tie the match at 23-23, the 16
th tie of the set.
However, with the match tied at 24-24, it was Sanchez who came up huge for the Demons with back-to-back kills to clinch the 26-24 fourth set win and a 3-1 match victory for NSU.
"This one was fun," said second-year head coach
Ben Kaszeta. "This morning, not so much. But we played hard despite a few freshman moments. With this group I have a feeling we will see that a bunch early. They play with an infectious passion. As we learn to control it. That will be a whole lot of fun for us."
The Demons finished the match with 64 kills and a .258 hitting percentage highlighted by 15 kills from Craig and Oliver. Nzioki and Wolf added 12 and 10, respectively. Longlad had a career-high 47 assists and 10 digs for a double-double to set the attack.
The win was the first for the Demons since Aug. 29, 2025.
Next up, the Demons will travel to Missouri to play in the Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Springfield, Missouri. NSU will face Indiana State Friday at 10 a.m. CT and Missouri State at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday. Then will wrap up the tournament Saturday at Noon CT against Little Rock.
