MONROE, La. – The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team was defeated by the ULM Warhawks 25-20, 25-20 and 25-19 Tuesday at Fant Coliseum in Monroe.
The Demons (1-3) got off to a good start as they led 12-8 in the opening set thanks to three aces from
Jade Longlad and had a 15-14 led at the first set media timeout. However, the Warhawks (2-2) took control of the remainder of the set as they had 12 first set kills in route to the 25-20 win.
In the second set, the Warhawks had a modest 9-8 lead after a block by NSU's
Kenadii Winfrey. But ULM scored four straight points to take a 13-8 advantage then extended their lead to 19-13 before hanging on for the win in set 2.
The Demons came out strong in the third set as they scored the first four points after some words of encouragement from head coach
Ben Kaszeta in between sets. ULM would rally to take a 15-14 lead at the midway point of the set. The Warhawks continued to pull away as the Demons attack errors continued to pile up as ULM clinched the match with a 25-19.
"There were a lot of great things that I saw tonight," said Kaszeta. "I like the aggression that our hitters and our defenders had tonight. We will play them harder and smarter in two weeks when we see them again. A couple of other people had a chance to play bigger roles today. We Came closer and learned a lot. We got better today against a team that looks like most of our conference. It was a good test for us today."
The Demons' offense as NSU finished with a .043 hit percentage (28 kills, 23 errors, 120 attacks).
Elsie Sanchez led the Demons with seven kills.
Emmarie McFarland added 11 digs for her 21
st career double digit dig performance.
"I have full faith in my team and the decisions that they make," McFarland. "I'm ready to see this fight but 10 times harder come next weekend."
Longlad finished with 23 assists to add to her league lead which now totals 126.
The Warhawks finished with 38 kills and hit .133. ULM was led by Aniya Hall with 13 kills while Briana Raney had 22 digs.
Next up, the Demons will travel 452 miles and eight hours to Springfield, Missouri to play in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational hosted by Missouri State. NSU will face Indiana State on Friday at 10 a.m. and Missouri State at 6:30 p.m. Then, Saturday the Demons will wrap up the tournament against Little Rock at noon.
