BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The Northwestern State volleyball team's bus to Alabama this weekend will be packed with the typical travel essentials – water, snacks, equipment, etc.
 
Joining the Lady Demons on the trip to the UAB/Samford Invitational is something NSU welcomes with open arms – momentum.
 
NSU begins play in the two-arena tournament at 10 a.m. Friday against Southeast Missouri State, and it will do so on a two-match win streak.
 
"Getting those two wins was great for us, especially heading into this tournament," senior outside hitter Lauren Agan said. "It's going to be a long one, but getting those wins was a confidence booster for us."
 
The Lady Demons (2-3) picked up consecutive victories against in-state rivals UL Lafayette and UL Monroe on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
 
Perhaps no one heads to north Alabama with more momentum than Agan, who put together two of the most consistent matches of her career. Agan delivered back-to-back 17-kill performances against the Ragin' Cajuns and Warhawks, hitting at least .300 in each match.
 
"She's been fantastic these last two matches," second-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "(She was) aggressive, but smart when she needs to be, getting a lot of kills but hitting a really high percentage. She's putting up numbers than an L1 would not be expected to put up. It's great for us. It's needed for us right now."
 
The two rivalry-match wins started a stretch of six matches in five days. NSU's lone day off in that time was Thursday when the team headed to Birmingham on a bus.
 
The Lady Demons will play back-to-back doubleheaders, facing Southeast Missouri State and Samford (7 p.m.) on Friday before heading across town to play tournament co-host UAB (10 a.m.) and Tennessee Tech (2:30 p.m.) on Saturday.
 
"The situation came up where they asked if we wanted to play some extra matches because they had extra teams in the tournament," Kiracofe said. "I liked those matchups. They were opportunities we could not pass up."
 
Just as NSU took the lessons it learned in playing three physically imposing teams in this past weekend's TCU Invitational, it hopes to do the same after what stands to be a physically and mentally taxing weekend.
  
"It will be different," Kiracofe said of playing the tournament in two separate gyms. "I haven't experienced anything like that before. The gyms are close together. It's not a huge travel concern. It will be different getting there Thursday and having serve and pass, getting used to the gym, then waking up and ending up in a different gym Friday."
 
Thankfully for Northwestern State, it has some insider information on how to escape the stress in Birmingham. Assistant coach Alicia Roth was a four-year letter winner and graduate of Samford, NSU's Friday-night foe.
 
"It's going to be exciting for her," Kiracofe said. "I know she wants to get that victory."