CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Northwestern State volleyball puts its three-match conference win-streak on the line Saturday at 1 o'clock against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a program that was projected to finish third in the Southland Conference preseason polls – one spot behind NSU.

"Corpus looks great on film," fifth-year co-head coach Hugh Hernesman said. "They return three all-conference pin players who are all dangerous in their own way. They serve it and pass it well, so we'll need to play a complete game on Saturday. They've got a talented freshman setter who is running their offense very efficiently."

Northwestern State (7-11 overall, 4-1 SLC) is coming off a sweep over Houston Baptist on Thursday at the Huskies' Sharp Gym. In the matchup, the Southland leaders in opponent hitting percentage (.144) held the Huskies to a minimal .138 offensive output behind an 11-block outing.

"We did a real nice job of holding a good offensive team that runs it pretty fast to a low efficiency," Hernesman said. "Our defense was really the highlight."

NSU will rely on its defense once again – this time against an Islanders team that ranks third in the Southland in hitting percentage (.198) and first in kills (1,032) out of the league's 13 teams.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (9-12 overall, 2-2 SLC) is led by junior Kelsee Felux who ranks first in the conference with a .444 hitting percentage which includes 27 kills in just 14 sets. Defensively, fellow junior Ivy Baresh ranks seventh in digs and tallied a career-high 26 at libero in a 3-1 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday night.

"If we can figure out ways of getting them out of system and get us on some point-scoring runs, we should be able to give them a run assuming we pass and play offensively like we've been playing recently," Hernesman said. "It'll be a great challenge against what I believe to be one of the top teams in this year."

Individually for NSU, senior Mackenzie Neely leads the offensive output with 227 points and 190 kills in 65 sets played. Fellow senior Emily Johnson has offered up 312 assists while sophomore Natalie Jaeger owns an impressive 15 service aces.

Defensively, in addition to opponent hitting percentage, NSU also claims the Southland's top spot in blocks (290/2.50 per set) and digs (1,333/18.51 per set). According to the latest NCAA rankings, junior Glynna Johnson is tenth nationally with 94 blocks (1.31 per set).

Saturday's match marks the 16^th overall meeting between the two squads with NSU holding a commanding 11-4 lead in the series that began in 2000. Last year, the Lady Demons swept the Islanders in Corpus behind 16 kills and two service aces from Stacey DiFrancesco.

Following Saturday, NSU returns to Prather Coliseum for a Thursday match against New Orleans at 7 o'clock and Saturday play versus Southeastern Louisiana beginning at 11:30 a.m.