NATCHITOCHES – Winning eight of the last nine and holding an undefeated stance at home, the Northwestern State volleyball team is set to face Nicholls State on Saturday in Southland Conference action at two o'clock in Prather Coliseum. 
 
The Lady Demons (9-9 overall, 5-1 SLC) defeated McNeese State Thursday night 3-1 to give the Cowgirls their third conference loss of the season. The Colonels (6-13, 2-6 SLC) dropped a five-set thriller to Stephen F. Austin, also on Thursday.
 
Northwestern State defeated Nicholls twice last season with a 3-1 defeat in Prather, and later a five-set battle in Thibodaux.
 
Redshirt sophomore Caiti O'Connell leads NSU and ranks tied for 12^th in the league with Nichols' Kayla Mashburn with 3.05 kills per set. Mashburn also holds down sixth in service aces, compared to O'Connell's three-way tie for eighth, putting down .38 and .35 per set, respectively.
 
Libero Keelie Arneson entered the week ranked 22^nd in the nation in digs per set. The Tomball, Texas, native digs up 5.05 attacks per set behind league-leader Bruna Silva from Oral Roberts who records 5.16 digs per set.
 
Setters Emily Johnson and Natalie Jaeger dish out 5.67 and 4.53 assists per set. Johnson currently sits 12^th in the Southland with her mark.
 
Kayla Burling steers Nicholls and stands at sixth in the conference with 3.38 kills per set and hold the three-way tie with O'Connell and ORU's McKenna Qualls in service aces. Libero Kalynn Egea digs up 4.08 attacks per set for eighth in the league.
 
The Lady Demons hit the road on Thursday and Saturday with matches at Houston Baptist and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, respectively. The next home series with Lamar and Sam Houston State on Oct. 24 and 26 are official 'Dig Pink' matches. NSU will wear pink uniforms in support of breast cancer awareness month.