After going head-to-head for the second time this season against the new conference opponent, the Northwestern State University of Louisiana Lady Demons’ volleyball team lost 1-3 to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in their annual “Fork Cancer” game.
Whether it was net violations or missed opportunities for offense attacks, little mistakes cost the Lady Demons the game against the Vaqueros.
At the start of the first set, NSU started aggressive with five kills and held a four-point lead. The team had net violations towards the end and gave their opponents a few points. The Vaqueros ultimately took the lead in the match, ending the first set with a final score of 25-19.
“Finding ways to put the ball away and long rallies are important — also cleaning up small mistakes that lead to points for the opponent,” Teresa Garza, senior sports and recreation management major and outside hitter, said. “We can’t have small mistakes on our side, especially against good teams in our conference.”
The Lady Demons made a comeback in the second set and shifted the game to play more defensively. Sean Kiracofe, head volleyball coach, shared the defensive changes the team made to their rotation.
“We did much better with our rotation on defense than we did the last time we were in it against Commerce,” Kiracofe said. “We were where we needed to be and we made plays. When you play a team like UTRGV. They’ve got three solid attackers that can manipulate the ball and hit it where they want to.”
After the rotation change, six blocks came from the second set by the Lady Demons. Middle blocker Deja Benjamin, who led the match in blocks with a total of eight, and outside hitter Reaghan Thompson added height in the game several times to stop UTRGV’s hits.
Middle blocker Samaya Wesson and setter Gabby Seeds also stopped the opposing team numerous times in the second set.
“They showed us what happens when we can take something away defensively and how good attackers can adjust,” Kiracofe said. “Now it’s taking that and making the play in that same situation next time.”
Forcing UTRGV into six errors from attacks and five outside the line landing swings, NSU put up a fight and finished the second set with an 8-2 run. The Lady Demons pulled through and ended the victory with a final score of 25-20 in the second set.
Two setters for the Lady Demons were not active in this match against UTRGV which caused NSU’s game plan to change. This slowed the offensive setup in time for the Vaqueros to capitalize on the team’s mistakes defensively in the third and fourth set.
“They showed us what happens when we can take something away defensively and how good attackers can adjust,” Kiracofe said. “Now it’s taking that and making the play in that same situation next time.”
In the third set, neither team held more than a three-point lead. The Lady Demons lost the third set to the Vaqueros with a score of 21-25. NSU couldn’t make a comeback in the fourth set with a score of 17-25 ultimately losing to their opponent.
Thompson, junior nursing major and outside hitter, led the team with 14 kills and had 10 digs against UTRGV. She shared her frustration of losing besides having a good game individually.
“Things you need to have control over despite how the game is going is your behavior,” Thompson said. “Attitude and energy is everything, so it is our job to keep our energy up despite whether we are winning or losing in a game.”
Although the team made several errors during the game, Benjamin and Wesson combined for a total of 16 kills with only two errors. Both teammates hit over 0.400% in the match and blocked 13 hits.
“We were hungry for a win, and tonight wasn’t enough. I think we did some great things but also some simple things that were not executed,” Garza said. “Now we are just hungry for Saturday and hungry for that win.”
With their new 6-9 record, the Lady Demons are working to improve and pick up a conference win against the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders this Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. at the Dugan Wellness Center.
