TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Northwestern State's non-conference volleyball schedule isn't called a tour of the Southeastern Conference, but naming it as such would not be totally inaccurate.
 
For the second straight weekend, Northwestern State heads to an SEC venue for an early-season tournament. This week's destination is the University of Alabama, which hosts the five-team Bama Bash.
 
Northwestern State (2-2) will face the host Crimson Tide (1-2) at noon Friday. NSU takes on Southern Mississippi at 5 p.m. Friday before wrapping up tournament play with an 11 a.m. Saturday match against College of Charleston.
 
"Alabama had a great season last year," first-year coach Sean Kiracofe said. "They have some young players that are finding their way onto the court. They're in a bit of an adjustment period, like everyone is at this point in the season. They're going to be big and athletic. That's going to be a tough matchup to start."
 
NSU brings some momentum into the match after rallying for a 3-2 victory against state rival UL Lafayette on Tuesday. Northwestern State fell behind 2-1 before turning in one of its best sets of the season to spark the comeback win.
 
Freshman Channing Burleson paced the NSU attack with 15 kills and added 11 digs for her first career double-double. Amanda Kunz delivered nine kills and a pair of aces to clinch the match.
 
Caiti O'Connell continued her climb toward 1,000 kills, blasting a season-best 13 to bring her career total to 888. O'Connell is looking to become the seventh member of the 1,000-kill club at Northwestern State.
 
NSU will face three of the four other teams in the Bama Bash, missing only Tulsa, which NSU has faced seven times in school history.
 
Instead of Tulsa, NSU will face Southern Miss (4-0) for the fifth straight season and will face Charleston (1-2) for the first time in program history.
 
Much like his program, Kiracofe is familiar with the Golden Eagles, having crossed paths with Southern Miss during his time as an assistant at SMU.
 
"Southern Miss has really progressed as a program in the last few years," Kiracofe said. "They're a pretty veteran team. I played a few of their veterans a couple of years ago as underclassmen. They're usually a scrappy defensive team.
 
"College of Charleston has had a lot of success as a mid-major the last few years. I was lucky enough to have played them last year. They lost a lot of seniors
that year, so that group has had a lot of time to jell and figure out their roles. It's going to be a fun weekend, but it will be a challenging weekend."
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday
Noon – Northwestern State at Alabama (SEC Network Plus)
5 p.m. – Northwestern State vs. Southern Miss
Saturday
11 a.m. – Northwestern State vs. College of Charleston