TULSA, Okla. – The Northwestern State volleyball team will head to Oral Roberts on Saturday for a two o'clock Southland Conference match-up at the Kenneth H. Cooper Aerobics Center.
 
The Lady Demons (7-9 overall, 3-1 SLC) dropped a 3-1 decision to Central Arkansas as the Golden Eagles (13-2, 5-0) defeated Stephen F. Austin in a five-set thriller, both on Thursday evening.
 
NSU split games with ORU last season. The Lady Demons picked up a 3-1 win in Natchitoches early in the conference season, then later dropped a 3-0 decision in Tulsa to conclude the regular season.
 
Libero Keelie Arneson recorded a season-high 34 digs against the Sugar Bears as setters Emily Johnson and Natalie Jaeger dished out 20 assists each.
 
Arneson currently leads the Southland with 5.19 digs per set while Johnson sits 12^th with 5.65 assists per set.
 
Caiti O'Connell knocked down 14 kills, followed by Ashley Elrod with nine. Elrod also dug up 15 Sugar Bear attacks. O'Connell and Elrod claim 13^th and 14^th in the Southland in kills with 3.04 and 2.90 per set, respectively.
 
Middle blocker Vanessa Coleman also put up a season-high with five total blocks as Mackenzie Neely contributed four and two service aces.
 
ORU enters Saturday's match on a five-game win-streak with its last loss on Sept. 14 at Georgia Southern.
 
Senior Jessica Pancratz  leads the Golden Eagles and the Southland with a .356 hitting percentage and registers a team-high 1.00 blocks per set. Junior Sara Pope sits third in the league with 3.59 kills per set as libero Bruna Silva ranks third in digs per set with 5.00. Setter Laura Taylor dishes out 10.04 assists per set to note fifth in the conference.
 
The Lady Demons return home next week for Southland matches with McNeese on Thursday at 7:00 and Nicholls on Saturday at two o'clock, both at Prather Coliseum.