HAMMOND – After claiming the most single-season Southland Conference wins in program history Thursday night, the Northwestern State volleyball team heads to Southeastern for a Saturday afternoon match slated to begin at two o'clock in the University Center.
 
With a 3-1 defeat of the University of New Orleans and sitting second in the Southland, the Lady Demons improved to  17-10 overall, 13-2 in the SLC, promoting the program's most conference wins since the 2012 season when NSU recorded 12 wins in league play, and 10 the season before. A 9-9 league mark under the direction of Leigh Mullins during the 2005 season is the closest the program has seen before the Hernesman coaching era.
 
Having already met this season, NSU and the SLU (11-17, 4-11) battled in a five-set thriller with the Lady Demons coming out on top. Stephen F. Austin halted a four-game win-streak for the Lady Lions with a 3-0 win Thursday evening in Hammond.
 
Freshman Ashley Elrod notched her fourth double-double in a row over UNO, her 12^th of the season, with 11 kills and 12 digs. The Arlington, Texas, native leads Northwestern State and sits 12^th in the Southland with 3.02 kills per set.
 
Libero Keelie Arneson's 31 digs Thursday night marked her second-highest of the season and improved her overall average to 5.35, good enough for 16^th in the nation and a lead over the SLC.
 
Right side hitter Mackenzie Neely and middle blocker Vanessa Coleman also have ranks in the league-ledgers. Neely slaps .35 service aces per set for fifth while Coleman is average a .291 attack percentage to sit seventh.
 
Emily Johnson and Natalie Jaeger make an impression in the middle as well, dishing out 5.54 and 4.86 assists per set and 14 double-doubles between the two of them. Glynna Johnson puts up .85 blocks per set to hold 10^th in the league.
 
For the Lady Lions, Tiffany Thomas leads with 2.88 kills per set, while posting a .198 attack percentage. Rachel Bunn holds down third in the Southland with a .332 attack percentage while putting up .82 blocks per set.
    
Setter Mikayla Shippy dishes out 9.37 assists per set for sixth in the league, as Morgan Todd leads the defense and also ranks sixth in the Southland with 4.40 digs per set.
 
The Lady Demons will host first place Central Arkansas Tuesday night in their final home game of the season, beginning at seven o'clock in Prather Coliseum. The last game of the regular season will be against SLC rival SFA Nov. 16 in Nacogdoches, Texas, at 1:00.