NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team defeated the Jackson State Tigers in their home opener in four sets Tigers 25-22, 25-17, 19-25 and 25-23 Tuesday night at Prather Coliseum.
The Demons (2-6) came out strong in the first set as they hit .444 going to the first media timeout leading 15-11. They held strong thanks to Elsie Oliver who had five kills in the first set including the set clincher as NSU won the opening set. NSU finished the first set with 18 kills, 4 errors and 37 attacks to hit .378.
In the second set, the Demons got off to a good start again as they led 7-4 after
Kenadii Winfrey's kill. The Tigers (3-3, however, rallied back to cut the deficit to 8-7. But it would be too much of the Demons in the second set. They roared on an 11-4 run to take a 19-11 lead as
Elizabeth Murgurza's ace gave NSU its biggest lead. The Tigers (3-3) battled back to cut the Demons' lead to 21-17. However, Sanchez recorded three straight kills before
Jade Longlad's ace won the set for NSU 25-17.
The Tigers stormed out in the third set to an 11-3 lead. NSU inched its way back into the set as they cut the hole to 20-16 Tigers late in the set on
Amber Craig's kill. But JSU took a 23-17 lead and closed out the set on an ace by Sophia McKenzie 25-19.
The Demons took a 7-5 lead in the fourth set as Winfrey's kill gave the Demons a modest lead. However, the Tigers scored three straight points to take the 8-7 lead. NSU quickly responded with four straight points of their own after kills by Murgurza, two by Craig and an ace by Longlad to give the Demons an 11-8 lead. NSU continued to pull away as they led 17-11 following a kill by Nzioki. But the Tigers scored five straight points to cut it 17-16.
But the Demons refused to let this one slip away. Two kills by Sanchez and two by Winfrey put the Demons in front 23-19. The Tigers scored back-to-back points,making it 23-21 as Demons' head coach
Ben Kaszeta called a timeout. Winfrey again came up a huge kill to make it 24-22. With the Demons leading 24-23, it was ultimately a service error by the Tigers that sealed the win for the Demons.
"So, the easiest word I would say is 'growth'," said Kaszeta. "We did things better tonight in crunch time situations than we did in the last couple of matches. We right were there with Missouri State and then couldn't finish against Indiana State this past weekend when we were up 2-1. So, it was a good response for us tonight in set four to bounce back from set 3 the way we did. I don't know if we relaxed or if they played harder in the third set. But we had good growth to win set 4."
Nzioki led the Demons with 14 kills while Craig and Sanchez both had 12. Winfrey finished with 10 to aid NSU which finished with 60 kills and .208 for the match (60 kills, 27 errors, 159 attacks). Longlad had 45 assists while
Emmarie McFarland had 20 digs for her eighth straight game. Murgurza had 13 digs and seven kills.
NSU improved their all-time record against JSU to 13-1 and are not 4-0 all-time at home against the Tigers.
Next up, the Demons will play in the Bulldog Bash Thursday, Friday and Saturday hosted by Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana. NSU will take on Mississippi Valley State (1-4) Thursday at 4 p.m. Then ULM (2-5) Friday at 4 p.m. and Grambling State (2-3) Saturday at 1 p.m.
