SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Northwestern State's first Southland Conference volleyball road match was a learning experience.
 
First-year head coach Sean Kiracofe hopes his charges are able to apply some of those lessons Saturday at 11 a.m. when NSU faces Incarnate Word in the second half of a Texas two-step Southland Conference road trip.

"No conference match is easy, and we received an early reminder of that against Abilene Christian Thursday night," Kiracofe said.
 
NSU (3-14, 1-3) dropped a 3-0 decision to Abilene Christian on Thursday night, seeing a couple of early rallies fall short before ACU rallied to finish the match in three sets.
 
Like ACU, Incarnate Word (2-9, 0-2) is a relative newcomer to the Southland Conference, playing in its third season of SLC membership.
 
The Cardinals have dropped five straight matches, including a five-setter against defending SLC regular-season champion Stephen F. Austin on Thursday in San Antonio.
 
Despite the lack of history, there is some philosophical familiarity between the Cardinals and Northwestern State.
 
"They are one of the few teams that we have seen this year running a 6-2, which our defense sees every day in practice, so it should be familiar," Kiracofe said. "The way they run their offense through one of their middles is a little untraditional, but we are fortunate enough to have seen other teams attack that same way in the preseason. They just played a very close, five-set match against Stephen F. Austin, so the match Saturday is going to be a difficult, but very needed, test on the road."
 
Northwestern State returns home for a three-match homestand beginning Thursday and running through Oct. 13. NSU hosts Houston Baptist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Stephen F. Austin during the time at Prather Coliseum.