NATCHITOCHES – Entering Saturday's 2:00 match with Southland Conference foe Sam Houston State, the Northwestern State volleyball team has six straight wins and claimed victories in every home match in Prather Coliseum dating back to Sept. 27, 2012. 

Northwestern State will honor lone senior Jessica Guttierrez before Saturday's match for her hard work and dedication to the program over the last four years.

The Lady Demons boast a 13-9 overall record, and have dropped just one league match this season for a 9-1 mark in the Southland, noting the best start to conference play in program history. NSU picked up its 12th win in the last 13 games with a 3-1 victory over Lamar Thursday evening. 

The Bearkats (13-7, 10-1) have won nine of their last 10, including a 3-0 defeat over Stephen F. Austin, also on Thursday.

The two teams split games last season, each squad winning at home.

Freshman Ashley Elrod leads the Lady Demons with 3.00 kills per set after recording her eighth double-double of the season over the Cardinals. The Arlington, Texas, native sits tied for 13th with Central Arkansas' Jessica Nagy in the Southland Kills ledger. Elrod also holds down 12th in service aces with .30 per set.  

Caiti O'Connell and Stacey DiFrancesco rank just behind with 2.83 and 2.17 kills per set, respectively. O'Connell knocked down nine kills against Lamar, while DiFrancesco picked up a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. 

Three-time Southland Defensive Player of the Week, Keelie Arneson ranks 19th nationally and leads the conference with 5.17 digs per set, topping out at two 34-dig performances this season. 

Setters Emily Johnson and Natalie Jaeger dish out 5.62 and 4.81 assists per set for Johnson to rank 12th in the league. The duo put out 53 combined assists in Thursday evening's win. 

Glynna Johnson and Vanessa Coleman hold down the middle, shutting down a combined 113 attacks. 

For the Bearkats, Southland kills leader Deveney Wells-Gibson leads with 4.39 kills per set while setter Tayler Gray sits third in the league with 10.67 assists per set. Senior Haley Neisler holds down the middle with 1.13 blocks per set, also third in the Southland. 
        
Breanna Homer and Gray rank sixth and 13th in the conference with 4.29 and 3.64 digs per set, respectively. Homer also knocks down .45 service aces per set, ranking second behind UCA's Heather Schnars.
        
At the moment, the Bearkats rank fifth in the nation in service aces with 1.83 per set, just behind Central Arkansas with 1.86. SHSU also sits 13th nationally in digs per set with 17.28.  

The Lady Demons host Oral Roberts Tuesday night at seven o'clock to round-out their three-game home-stretch. The final home game of the season will be held Nov. 12, also at 7:00, against 2012 SLC tournament champion Central Arkansas.