NATCHITOCHES – For the first time this season, the Northwestern State volleyball team will compete in front of its home fans, as the program takes on Abilene Christian on Thursday at 7 o'clock from Prather Coliseum.

Admission is free and Thursday's match will be Elementary School Night with the first 100 elementary school children receiving one slice of pizza.

"I get to see my kids this weekend and that's a big thing for me honestly," fifth-year head coach Hugh Hernesman said. "Our players are exhausted from the trips so it's good for us to be able to have a full week of practice at home and be able to play on our court that we're familiar with in front of our fans, which are some of the best in the Southland."

NSU (4-11, 1-1 SLC) faced its share of ups and downs after spending the previous month on the road playing in four different states during the course of 15 matches. After taking two-of-three at the North Texas Invitational including a sweep of No. 15 Missouri, the squad posted a 1-9 record to finish out non-conference play.

Over a three-day span last week, NSU defeated McNeese in its Southland opener, lost defending SLC Libero of the Year Keelie Arneson to a season-ending Achilles injury and was swept by Nicholls in its second league match.

"It's a resilient group," Hernesman said. "Two years ago we lost three starters and everyone left for us dead. That was the message to the team and we turned around and we were almost a line call from a tournament championship and NCAA Tournament. We know the character of the players in our program.

"We're very driven as a program; our staff is determined to find a solution and I don't think it's going to be a lot of different pieces or parts but we'll re-examine everything we do to see what we can do to utilize the talents we have. We've put a great product on the floor and we'll continue to do that."

Stepping in will be sophomore Bailey Martin who has accumulated 127 digs this season after playing for Arneson while she was sidelined with an unrelated injury. On Sept. 13, Martin had 39 digs at Mississippi State, a feat that ranks fourth in NSU history.

NSU enters Thursday's match against Abilene Christian (2-13, 0-2 SLC) boasting one of the conference's strongest defenses. The Lady Demons hold the league's top spot in opponent hitting percentage (.143), blocks (145), blocks per set (2.42) and digs per set (19.20).

NSU will rely on junior middle blocker Glynna Johnson whose 1.27 blocks per set rank second in the Southland and 45^th in the country. Senior Mackenzie Neely leads the squad with 124 kills and 2.76 kills per set while senior Emily Johnson has provided 215 assists, a 4.67 average per set.
According to Hernesman, ACU will offer another quality test for his team.

"They're a young group," Hernesman said. "They're a nice ball control team. They have a real nice young middle blocker who had a great season last year and is off to another good start; a transfer who has been impactful for them. They took Central Arkansas to five last week so that shows you how strong they are."

Following Thursday's match, NSU will conclude its brief two-game home stand on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match against Incarnate Word.