NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team begins Southland Conference play Thursday evening at seven o'clock against Southeastern Louisiana at Prather Coliseum.
 
The Lady Demons (3-8, 0-0) and the Lady Lions (6-6, 0-0) are tied 26-26 in the overall league rivalry, last facing each other in October 2012 with NSU coming out on top of a 3-0 shutout.
 
Northwestern State made its home debut Tuesday night with a 3-1 triumph over non-conference opponent Southern Mississippi. Freshman Ashley Elrod led the attack for the Lady Demons, collecting her third double-double of the season and second in a row, as she knocked down a career-high 16 kills and 11 digs on the night.
 
Keelie Arneson held down the defense, collecting a season-high 28 digs from the Golden Eagles to put her atop the SLC individual leaders list with 4.89 digs per set. Setter Emily Johnson notched a career-high 27 assists to aid in the win.
 
Southeastern heads into Southland Conference play after four solid wins at the Tangi Tourism Lion Classic, defeating Stetson, Nebraska Omaha, Southern and Louisiana Tech.
 
Sophomore Tiffany Thomas sits third in the SLC in kills and leads SLU with 3.62 kills per set, while posting a .195 attack percentage The 6-2 outside hitter has also dug up 46 attacks to aid the Lady Lions. Rachel Bunn trails Thomas with 2.50 kills per set and leads the team in blocks with 38. The freshman middle blocker holds steady at second in the league in attack percentage (.404).
 
Setter Mikayla Shippy has dished out 417 assists and records 87 digs on the season. Shippy is fifth in league assists with 9.70 per set. Morgan Todd leads the defense with 183 digs.
 
Admission is free to all volleyball games and Dominoes pizza if provided for students in attendance. 

NSU will continue league play on Saturday with New Orleans in the first meeting since 2010 at 2:00 at Prather.