LAKE CHARLES – McNeese volleyball evened its Southland Conference record at 4-4 after Saturday's 3-0 sweep over Northwestern State, winning by scores of 25-20, 25-17, 25-22.
It's the second straight win for the Cowgirls over the Lady Demons (2-6, 0-6) in Lake Charles.
McNeese's
Regan Stiawalt led all attackers with 13 kills and a whopping .440 attack percentage.
Caitlin Sharrock added a team-high 18 assists and nine digs while
Alexis Lambert matched Sharrock with a team-high nine digs.
The Cowgirls got out to a quick start in the first two sets. In the first, McNeese scored the first four points and led 10-4 following one of the Cowgirls' 12 service aces, this one by Stiawalt.
NSU went on a 5-1 run to cut the gap to 11-9, but after a kill by
Kendall Glueck made it a 12-9 McNeese lead, Sharrock served up three straight aces to widen the gap to 15-9. Glueck slammed down the set-winning kill to give the Cowgirls the 25-20 win.
The second set was tight at the start but after the Lady demons tied the set 3-3, McNeese went on a 7-0 run behind four service aces from
Baylee Laskoskie and kills by
Jaiden Kennedy and Stiawalt.
Later, three straight kills by
Macee Krpec, Sharrock and
Lauren Burt opened up a 19-7 lead as the Cowgirls cruised to a 25-17 win to go up 2-0.
The third set was tight as neither team led by more than two points through the first 30 points scored. Tied 15-15, kills by
Alexis Lambert and Burt put the Cowgirls up 17-15 then after NSU pulled to within 17-16, Glueck got a kill followed by an NSU set error to make it a 19-16 advantage.
A Lambert service ace opened up a 21-17 lead but the Lady Demons scored two straight to narrow the margin once again. Sharrock and Krpec got back-to-back kills to give the Cowgirls a 23-19 lead then another kill by Krpec gave McNeese match point at 24-20. NSU scored off a couple of McNeese attack errors to cut the margin to 24-22 when Stiawalt shut the door on the match with her 13
th kill to give the Cowgirls the 25-22 third set and match win.
McNeese will be back in action on Tuesday when it visits Lamar at 6:30 in Beaumont.