The Northwestern State  volleyball team lost 3-0 (25-12, 25-17 and 25-16) to the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals in the Southland Conference opener for both teams Thursday night at Prather Coliseum.

Northwestern will be back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. at home against the Houston Christian Huskies as conference play continues.

The Demons (1-14) fell behind early, 7-2, before Makenna Tryon slammed home a kill to stop the Cardinals’ momentum. But UIW sprinted from there as they rolled to a first set win finishing with 11 kills to three for NSU.

The Cardinals (4-8) continued to control the match in set two as they got out to a 19-11 lead and cruised to the set win.

In set three, the Demons showed some fight as they trailed 15-13 following another kill by Tryon. But UIW scored seven of the next 10 points to take a 22-16 as they went on for the straight set win.

“Our hitting percentage simply isn’t good enough,” said new Demons head coach Ben Kaszeta. “We have to know when it’s the right time to swing and when to hold off.”

Despite the hitting percentage struggles (0.02), Kaszeta liked the fight from his team in the final set.

“We’re still battling,” said Kaszeta. “It’s either a win or a learning experience and we are doing some of the little things to grow. But we have to start showing some maturity and put a positive mindsight when we make mistakes instead of always dwelling on it. We have to learn how to grow.”

NSU was led by Tryon and Deja Benjamin with five kills each. Reagan Hamm added 15 assists while Tryon had 12 digs to 10 for Emmarie McFarland.