NATCHITOCHES, La. – Gracie Campbell and Nevaeh Smith combined for 29 kills and five blocks on Thursday night as the East Texas A&M University volleyball team coasted to a 3-0 win over the Northwestern State Lady Demons inside Prather Coliseum via set scores of 25-17, 25-23, and 25-21.
 
The win secured a berth into the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament, which is hosted by the Lions on Hunt Regional Healthcare court in the Field House on November 21-23. The Lions are now 8-16 on the season and 6-7 in SLC action. East Texas A&M can finish as high as sixth and as low as eighth in the standings with three matches left in the regular season.
 
Northwestern State is in the midst of a 26-match losing streak, falling to 1-26 overall and 0-13 in SLC play. The two teams meet each other again on Saturday.
 
The first set was evenly matched to start as the Lady Demons had a 10-9 lead, but then a 4-1 run came for the Lions, who built a 20-13 lead and closed out the set on back-to-back kills from Campbell (Klein Oak) as part of a 4-1 run.
 
Like the start to the first set, neither side was able to separate itself to begin the second set, being tied 8-8. Four of the next five points were won by the Lions, but NSU fought back from being down three to take a 21-20 edge on a 4-1 scoring run.
 
The Lady Demons were in front 22-21, but a service error tied the set and then the Lions won the next two. Despite the Lady Demons fighting off a set point, Campell ended the second set with a kill.
 
The Lions went ahead 5-1 in the third set, but the Lady Demons rallied once again to take a 11-9 lead, charged by a 7-2 run. With the set tied at 17, the Lions took the next three and went up 24-20. Campbell delivered her 18^th kill of the match to clinch the win for East Texas A&M.

Campbell had just one attacking error, hitting .378 in the match. Smith (San Antonio – O'Connor) hit .300 for 11 kills as well as five blocks. Haley Mullaney (Victory Christian Academy) had team-best 23 assists, while Savannah Jennings (Rosehill Christian) added 11.
 
Defensively, Jade Washington (Waco – Midway) totaled 13 digs and Rendi Fetty (Farmersville) had 10 digs.
 

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The Lions and the Lady Demons play in the Field House on Saturday at 11 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/tickets.