NEW ORLEANS – The Northwestern State volleyball team has seen just how quickly a season can change.
Two weeks ago, the Lady Demons were in second place in the Southland Conference, having won six of their first eight conference matches. Since then, NSU has dropped four straight and enters Tuesday's 7 p.m. match at New Orleans in sixth place in the league standings.
Behind NSU (11-16, 6-6) is a logjam of four teams at 5-7. In front of it is a New Orleans (4-21, 1-11) team NSU swept in Natchitoches on Oct. 13.
Aside from the venue, there may be some other differences between the Privateers then and now.
"The scary thing about them is in all the videos we've scouted of them recently, they throw a bunch of different people in different positions," second-year coach
Sean Kiracofe said. "You don't know exactly what you're going to see. It could be completely different than when they came here, and it could change in the middle of the match as well."
In the first meeting between the teams, senior outside hitter
Lauren Agan turned in a career-best night in efficiency. Agan knocked down 16 kills on 27 attacks, committing just two errors for a .519 hitting percentage.
Agan's spark helped the Lady Demons hit .325 as a team, which stands as their second-best performance on the season.
Although UNO may throw a few different wrinkles at NSU, Kiracofe is happy to see a familiar opponent. Each of Northwestern State's final four matches of the season, beginning Tuesday night, is a rematch from earlier in the conference season.
"I always think (rematches) are positives," Kiracofe said. "I love to be able to go back and see what worked, what didn't work. It's easier to scout a match you've played in than to see what somebody else Is doing. You don't know what's going through their mind when they're trying to attack them and why. Is it because of their strengths or their weaknesses? I love those rematches."
Tuesday marks the final road match of the season for Northwestern state, which is 5-5 in true road matches this season.
The five true road wins are the most since the 2013 team went 9-3 on opponents' court. The setting may work in NSU's favor.
"Maybe going on the road is exactly what we need," Kiracofe said. "We talked a lot about being able to be composed on the road and getting wins within the conference, which are difficult to come by. We've preached that more than anything else, going out and attacking people on their home court."
