By Brad Welborn, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – In front of a record home crowd, Northwestern State made UCLA earn each and every point in its 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-22) win on Monday afternoon.
Through each of the three sets the Demons (0-4) found ways to battle back from multi-point deficits, challenging the Bruins (2-1) late in sets one and three, showing immediate gains and improvements from opening weekend.
“When we started the season I felt like we could be a team that could do what we saw today,” head coach Sean Kiracofe said. “I still don’t think we are quite where we want to be but we showed flashes of it. Everything that we earned out there today mattered. We figured out ways to score and put ourselves in situations to have advantages against a very big and good team. A lot was accomplished today, even in the loss, and I was happy with that.”
The Bruins asserted their size and power early in the first set with an 8-0 run that featured six kills and a pair of blocks to take a sizeable 11-6 lead. After seeing her first action over the weekend against Mississippi State, freshman Makenna Tryon ended the run with her first home kill and sparked a Demon comeback.
Kills from Jordan Gamble and Tessa Gerwig on consecutive points carried the five-point NSU burst forward that chipped away at the lead. The Demons and Bruins traded points over the next 10 serves before yet another NSU rally.
A kill from Teresa Garza and a devastating block from Jordan Gamble and Breanna Burrell sparked the NSU offense and added more fuel and volume to the lungs of the over 1,200 in the record-setting crowd.
“It’s always fun when we have our kid’s day and the elementary schools come in,” Kiracofe said. “We haven’t been able to do it since COVID so it was great to have them here and they always have a good time. But we had a ton of support from the other athletes and students and faculty and staff. We were very appreciative of everybody showing up and it created a fantastic environment so when things were going well for us you could feel it.”
Consecutive aces from Ashlyn Svoboda followed the block and brought NSU to within two points at 23-21. Gamble was able to hold of two straight set points after a UCLA kill but the Demons did not find a third and the Bruins took the opener 25-23.
NSU hit a match-best .250 in the opening set, but were unable to keep pace with UCLA’s .412 clip to start the match.
A 7-1 run and a 5-1 by the Bruins early on was enough for UCLA to control things in the second set and keep the Demons from making a significant push late in the frame.
Down by seven early in the third, the Demons began chipping away at the UCLA lead slowly and surely. Back-to-back kills from Tryon and Gamble near the midpoint of the set brought the Demons with four and three straight kills from Teresa Garza later made it a three-point game at 17-14.
NSU’s big push came once UCLA hit the 20-point mark when Svoboda got her fourth ace of the match and Garza and Tryon immediately followed with kills making it a 20-19 game. After a Demon service error, Gamble provided the response kill and then connected with Tryon for a pivotal block that evened the score at 21.
Another service error and two attack errors were enough to give the Bruins the edge in the late stages to hold off the Demons and take the 25-22 third set and road sweep.
Garza turned in her first double-double in an NSU uniform with 10 kills and 12 digs, leading the Demons in both categories for the match. Tessa Gerwig had her fourth straight match with seven kills and Gamble ended with seven kills and three blocks.
NSU turns its attention to its next match on Tuesday evening as it hosts Jackson State at 6 p.m. in Prather Coliseum.
“Jackson State is traditionally at or near the top of their conference,” Kiracofe said. “They come in and they compete. We cannot have a hangover from today, not show up and think we don’t have to do the exact same thing from a competitive and execution standpoint. You’re going to have to work hard to earn a victory against them.”
— Featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services