NATCHITOCHES – There is only one match scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum, but the Northwestern State volleyball team is looking at a busy day.
 
Approximately 15 minutes after NSU's match against Southland Conference-leading Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Saturday, the team will host a free clinic for girls and boys in the eighth grade and younger.
 
"We're really looking forward to that," first-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "About 15-20 minutes after the match, boys or girls, you're welcome to come and do a clinic, get a taste of some different skills. You'll be working first-hand with the girls on the team. It's going to be exciting."
 
Before Northwestern State (3-16, 1-5 Southland) does its part to help grow volleyball in northwest Louisiana, it faces its biggest challenge of the first half of Southland Conference play.
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (17-4, 5-0) ended Stephen F. Austin's 20-match conference winning streak with a five-set victory Thursday night to take a one-game lead in the Southland standings.
 
Statistically, the Islanders have been equally as dominant, leading the conference in assists per set (12.57), kills per set (13.35), digs per set (17.03) and opponent hitting percentage (.144).
 
Individually, the Islanders feature the Southland's leading assister, Kristyn Nicholson (10.81 per set), and the leader in digs per set, Kate Klepetka (5.83).
 
The Islanders also have two of the Southland's top six attackers in terms of hitting percentage – Brittany Gilpin (2^nd, .379) and Madeleine Doud (6^th, .325).
 
Northwestern State's Glynna Johnson stands fourth in hitting percentage at .360, while Natalie Jaeger (2^nd in aces per set, 0.54) and Bailey Martin (10^th in digs per set, 3.30)
 
"They are definitely rolling along right now," Kiracofe said. "By the way the schedule is set up, they haven't played as many matches as everybody else, but the ones they have played, they've looked great. We're going to have a lot of work to do to figure out where their weaknesses are and where we can attack them."
 
In its 3-0 loss to Houston Baptist on Thursday, Northwestern State uncorked seven service aces, highlighting a season-long strength.
 
NSU is tied for 72^nd nationally in aces per set (1.48) while Jaeger's 0.54 aces per set rank seventh nationally. Jaeger's 35 aces this season have pushed her career total to 92, leaving her 25 short of moving into the top seven in school history.
 
"We serve really aggressively," Kiracofe said. "Being at home, you can add a little more to that, because you're used to the environment, the depth perception and the building in general. Then you have the confidence from the crowd. I think we'll be able to serve well enough to get them out of system and see how they play with that."
 
Saturday marks the midpoint of a three-match homestand for Northwestern State. The run concludes Tuesday night when NSU hosts rival Stephen F. Austin on "Orange Out" night. All proceeds from Tuesday's match will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Wes Rollo, a Natchitoches resident who is battling leukemia. Rollo will be NSU's honorary team captain for the match.