Box Score

Box Score

HAMMOND – Freshman Stacey DiFrancesco posted a double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs as Northwestern State got off to hot start and defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, in a Southland Conference volleyball match on Thursday at the University Center.

Kelly Jimenez added 14 kills and 10 digs for Northwestern State (4-12, 1-3 Southland), which opened the match hitting .414 at the net before finishing at .193 for the match. Southeastern, which will face Central Arkansas (7-8, 3-1 Southland) on Friday at 7 p.m., fell to 4-16 overall and 0-3 in the Southland Conference.

Paige Dollison led Southeastern, which finished with a .191 hitting percentage, with 12 kills while Kinsey Williams added 10. Lindsey Young led the Lady Lions with 34 assists and 12 digs while Megan McMillin added 12 digs.

DiFrancesco recorded seven kills in the opening set as Northwestern State opened the match on a 6-1 run. A kill by Jimenez gave the Demons a 17-6 lead before Northwestern State extended its lead to 21-9.

Both teams battled point-for-point midway through the second set before a kill by Jimenez snapped a 16-16 tie. The Demons kept their lead for the remainder of the set, capitalizing on a pair of service errors by Southeastern and getting a pair of kills from Nicole Hajka.

Southeastern rallied in the third set behind the play of Dollison, who had five kills and hit .625 in the set. The Lady Lions hit .281 in the third set while Northwestern State was -.097. The Lady Lions never trailed after an attack error by Jimenez snapped a 4-4 tie. Southeastern led 19-13 after a kill by Dollison before Northwestern State called timeout. A service error by Southeastern and an ace by DiFrancesco cut the lead to 19-15 before a kill by Dollison stopped the rally.

Northwestern State closed out the match in the fourth as DiFrancesco collected five kills with Jimenez and Mackenzie Neely recording three each. The Demons built an 18-12 lead after a kill by Neely before Southeastern chipped away at the lead.

Southeastern closed to within 22-20 on a service error by Jimenez, but the Lady Lions followed with a service error before a bad set and a kill by DiFrancesco closed out the match.

Young and Elizabeth Ramee added six kills each for Southeastern while Chelsea Barr added eight digs, Courtney Donald seven and Arianne Cruckshank six.