NATCHITOCHES – In some ways, the Northwestern State volleyball team's matchup with Stephen F. Austin this past month mirrored its conference season.
"We started out really well against SFA, but we weren't able to make adjustments," second-year head coach
Sean Kiracofe said.
Kiracofe and the Lady Demons get another shot at the Ladyjacks when the teams tangle Thursday inside Prather Coliseum in a 7 p.m. Southland Conference matchup. Admission to the match and to all NSU volleyball matches is free thanks to the sponsorship of Red River Mill Federal Credit Union.
In the first meeting, Northwestern State (12-17, 7-7) collected five kills on its first 10 swings of the match. The Lady Demons were unable to maintain that hot start and fell 3-0 to the Ladyjacks (18-9, 11-3).
NSU began Southland Conference play with three straight wins and were 6-2 at the midway point of conference play before hitting a snag.
The Lady Demons have split their past two matches following a four-match losing streak. Despite the recent downturn, NSU clinched a Southland Conference Tournament berth Saturday when Southeastern Louisiana fell to Stephen F. Austin.
"Going into it, our scout was good," Kiracofe said of the first meeting with SFA. "That was obvious. That worked. They made adjustments. We weren't able to change. We struggled with that last year.
"It took us until the end of the conference season last year to make in-game adjustments and to stick with them. We've been able to do that this year. For the first half of the season, we were great at it. Right now, we've struggled with making in-match adjustments and sticking with them. A lot of that has to do with who we're playing."
Five of Northwestern State's final seven matches of the season, including Saturday's regular-season finale against Sam Houston State, are against teams that have qualified for the Nov. 18-20 conference tournament in Conway, Arkansas.
As the Lady Demons play for seeding in their final two matches, Kiracofe sees value in a tough closing stretch of the regular season.
"You want to have played (tournament teams) recently," he said. "If it was in the first half of the conference schedule, you kind of forget. That's the easy way to say it. To have seen them recently and to have the chance to match back up with them is a benefit."
