NATCHITOCHES—McNeese volleyball extended its winning streak to three matches here Thursday night with a straight set 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) Southland Conference win over Northwestern State to start the second half of the conference schedule.
 
For the second straight match, the Cowgirls' serving has been on point. In the last two matches, McNeese has 18 service aces with eight coming tonight.
 
"Our serving was really aggressive, which put our defense in a comfortable position to make crucial plays," said head coach Sasha Karelov.
 
McNeese (11-13, 7-3 SLC) has not only won its last three matches, but the Cowgirls have won six of their last seven matches with tonight's win.
 
The loss drops NW State to 12-9 overall and 5-5 in league play.
 
The first two sets went back and forth at the beginning before McNeese would take the lead and never looked back to jump out to a 2-0 lead. McNeese took a 14-8 lead in the third set but the Lady Demons put together a run to pull to within one point. McNeese responded with a run of its own to increase its lead to 19-14 but once again NW State fought back to get within one point at 19-18.
 
A Sanni Rantanen kill and back-to-back aces by Kendall Osgood was the boost the Cowgirls need to stretch the lead to 22-18 before Nejra Hanic ended the match with two straight kills.
 
Kendall Glueck led all players with a match high 13 kills and was the only player to record double figure kills.
 
Dejah Dade and Mia Perales both dished out double figure assists with 13 and 11, respectively.
 
Four Cowgirls ended the match with double figure digs with Bailey Tillman leading the way with 18.  Lizzy Low was credited with 13, Skyeler Embry had 12 and Kendall Osgood had 10.
 
"Kendall (Glueck) did a great job moving the ball around and taking swings we needed her to. Dejah (Dade) and Mia (Perales) were consistent with their set location and decision making. Kendall (Osgood), Lizzy (Low) and Bailey (Tillman) took charge in the back row which gave our front row confidence. Overall, just a fantastic team win."
 
McNeese will close out its weekend with an 11 a.m. match at Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday.
 
SET 1
McNeese and NW State battled it out in the beginning with both teams coming up with point saving digs. Leading 15-10, McNeese scored three straight points to extend its lead 18-10. The Cowgirls continued to extend their lead and behind kills from Skyeler Embry and Kendall Glueck that gave McNeese a 23-16 lead. Another kill by Sanni Rantanen and an ace by Embry gave McNeese the first set win.
 
SET 2
The set went back and forth at the beginning of the set until McNeese broke an 11-11 tie to take the lead for good on a NW State error. The Lady Demons got as close as one point (14-13) on an ace but a 6-1 run by the Cowgirls extended the lead to 20-14 before going on to pick up the 25-17 win to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
SET 3
McNeese jumped out to a 7-3 lead behind the serve of Embry then extended the lead to 14-8 on a Mia Perales ace. NW State went a 5-0 run to cut the McNeese lead to one point (14-13).   A 5-0 McNeese run put the Cowgirls up 19-14 with three of the points coming off the serve of Bailey Tillman and kills by Glueck and Embry. NW State responded with another run, this time a 4-0 run to pull to within one point again at 19-18. Rantanen's kill and then back-to-back service aces by Kendall Osgood gave McNeese a 22-18 lead. A NW State error extended the McNeese lead to 23-20 before Nejra Hanic ended the match with two straight kills.  
 
McNEESE NOTES
• The win is the third straight for the Cowgirls and sixth in the last seven matches
• McNeese's serving was on point again tonight with the Cowgirls picking up eight aces
• McNeese has recorded 18 aces in its last two matches
• Kendall Glueck led all players with a match high 13 kills
• McNeese, who leads the league in digs, was credited with 72 tonight
• Four Cowgirls recorded double figure digs: Tillman (18), Low (13), Embry (12), Osgood (10)