NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team had a new coach and several new faces in the lineup for its home opener Tuesday night.
 
There was, however, still plenty of the same old Prather Coliseum magic in the air, as NSU rallied for a 3-2 victory against state rival UL Lafayette.
 
"I've heard about the home-court advantage, and it's definitely there," said first-year coach Sean Kiracofe, who has been victorious in both the 2015 season opener and the 2015 home opener.
 
The chances of competing that double looked perilous after two sets, as UL Lafayette (0-4) took a 2-1 lead courtesy of an offense that adjusted well to the NSU defense.
 
The Cajuns produced sideout percentages of at least 60 in the first three sets en route to taking the lead after three sets. In the final two sets, Northwestern State sided out at 84 and 69 percent, respectively.
 
After dropping the third set 25-18, it was NSU's turn to adjust. Led by the combination of freshman Channing Burleson (15 kills, 11 digs) and seniors Amanda Kunz (9 kills, 3 aces) and Glynna Johnson (8 kills, 3 solo blocks), NSU took the final two sets 25-12 and 15-9 to snap a two-match losing skid.
 
Kunz had six serving errors but was able to swing momentum to NSU (2-2) in the fourth set. After a Caiti O'Connell kill put NSU up 12-8 in the fourth set, Kunz served up a 6-0 run, setting in motion one of NSU's best sets of the young season.
 
In the final set, Kunz finished the game with back-to-back aces, including a final serve that clipped the net and fell in to seal the comeback victory.
 
"Amanda last weekend was really good serving for us and got us in a lot of good positions," Kiracofe said. "Even in practice, we've been in situations where she's had to serve at the end of matches. It seems to be a pattern. She's comfortable back there. We have complete confidence in her. Even if she has a few misses in the middle, we feel like she's going to come through in the end."
 
Burleson came through often in her home debut, producing a double-double and a remarkable .452 hitting percentage on 31 total attempts (15 kills, 1 error).
 
Mixing in big swings with a deft touch, she produced the highest individual kill total for a Northwestern State player in the season's first four matches.
 
Burleson's 15 kills were one shy of the total she posted in three matches during last weekend's Magnolia Invitational at Ole Miss.
 
"For a while there, she was pretty unstoppable," Kiracofe said. "She was passing and playing defense, too. She had a great match."
 
All it took was some time to settle her nerves.
 
"The crowd (343) was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be," Burleson said. "The pressure was on. We worked well as a team, so it was easy to manage.
 
"We all started off strong in the first set and then got shaky in the second and third set. We were a lot more consistent in the fourth and fifth set. We decided to play our game, calm down and played how we know how to play."
 
Chanelle Gardner paced the Cajuns' offense with 11 kills while Sydney Davis turned in 17 digs for UL Lafayette.
 
Bailey Martin collected 20 digs for NSU, which also got a double-double of 29 assists and 14 digs from Natalie Jaeger.
 
Northwestern State returns to action Friday at noon when it faces host Alabama in the Bama Bash. NSU has two matches Friday, as it will face Southern Miss at 5 p.m.