TROY, Ala. – The Northwestern State Demons defeated The Citadel Bulldogs 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 24-26 and 25-19) and then had its seven-game winning streak snapped by the Troy Trojans 3-0 (25-12, 25-22 and 25-22) Saturday during the final day of the Troy Invitational.
The Demons (8-7) came storming out of the gate in the opening set against the Bulldogs (3-9) as NSU led 10-3, forcing The Citadel to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, the Demons' early onslaught continued.
Jade Longlad recorded back-to-back aces followed by a kill from
Elsie Sanchez pushing it to 13-3 NSU. The Demons had a monstrous 15-5 lead at the first media timeout. NSU cruised to the 25-17 first set win capped off by a kill by a
Kenadii Winfrey.
In the second set, the Demons and Bulldogs battled it out with the match tied at 11-11. Winfrey continued to pile up a big game as she had seven kills and four blocks midway through the second set. But it was the combination of Winfrey and
Amber Craig at the net that was causing all kinds of problems for the Bulldogs as both had four blocks through two sets. The Demons took set two as well 25-17 in the exact same way the first set ended, a kill by Winfrey.
NSU fell behind in the third set as they trailed 15-11 at the media timeout and 17-13. But once again the Demons didn't panic scoring five straight points to take the lead, 18-17. However, the Bulldogs rallied to take a 24-23 and would go on to take the set 26-24.
In the fourth set, the Demons trailed 7-6 before pushing out to an 18-13 lead late in the frame before finishing off the Bulldogs 25-19.
Sanchez finished with 16 kills to lead the way while
Olivia Nzioki had 11 and Winfrey chipped in with 10. Longlad had 41 assists and just missed another double-double with nine digs. McFarland had 16 digs for her 14
th straight game with double digit digs.
In the second match, the Trojans (5-4) came out early and took control of the first set 15-7 and never looked back to the 25-12 opening set win.
The Demons, after being bombarded in the first set, came storming back in the second set. NSU tied the match at 15-15 following a kill by Nzioki and an attack error by the Trojans. The Demons then took the lead 20-18 forcing the Trojans into a timeout. NSU had a 22-21 lead, but the Trojans scored four straight points on two kills, a block and an ace to secure the second set 25-22.
Despite the 0-2 hole, the Demons kept fighting as they had a 13-8 lead in the third set after a kill by Craig and ace by Sanchez. NSU maintained the lead, 15-12, going into the media timeout after another kill by Nzioki and led 19-16 after a kill by Sanchez. But three straight kills by the Trojans tied the game at 19-19.
Nzioki's kill tied the match at 22-22. But for the second straight set, the Trojans scored the final three points to steal the set from the Demons and clinch the match in three sets, 25-22.
"I tip my hat to Troy tonight," said Demon head coach
Ben Kaszeta. "They were a little too much for us. They were disciplined and attacked our defense in different ways than others did. We came to this tournament to play them because I knew they were a really good program that will help us prepare for conference play. I'm happy with how we fought after the first set. They hit us hard and we responded. Not fast enough but responded well. We definitely got better tonight. We even had leads going to the end of the other two sets. This should help us prepare for our first weekend in conference."
Nzioki led the Demons with 13 kills while McFarland had 16 digs and Longlad had 28 assists.
Next up, the Demons will open Southland Conference play Thursday night on the road against the Houston Christian Huskies (2-9) at 6:30 p.m. in Houston.
