LAKE CHARLES – A couple of weeks ago, the Northwestern State volleyball team hit a bit of a reset button after playing six matches in five days.
 
As Southland Conference play begins Thursday at McNeese, the Lady Demons get to adjust their philosophy, settling into a more steady rotation.
 
"You do a lot of different things, different lineups and you try to figure out how things are going to work in the tournaments," second-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "You experiment with certain things, but when conference comes around, it's time to get going."
 
With the experimentation behind him, Kiracofe and his second NSU squad open conference play with a three-match road swing. After facing McNeese, the Lady Demons (5-10) head to Nicholls on Saturday before wrapping up a busy early stretch of Southland play at Central Arkansas on Tuesday.
 
The Cowgirls (4-11) finished fourth in the Southland a season ago.
 
McNeese had to replace All-Louisiana Player of the Year and first-team All-Southland Conference selection Malina Sanchez and first-team All-SLC pick Kelly Graham. Sanchez delivered 407 kills a season ago while Graham handed out 1,209 assists, both team-leading totals.
 
"They had a great season last year, and they had a lot of seniors who had a lot to do with that," Kiracofe said. "This year, they've got some new players in. They have a freshman (Keegan Nelms) who is leading them in kills, and they've got a sophomore setter (Alexandra Aguilera) who is doing a good job. They've showed some good signs and struggled in others."
 
Despite the new faces, Kiracofe said NSU knows better than to take any opponent lightly from this point forward.
 
"It's conference play," he said. "It's time to buckle down and make things happen. We know we're in for a tough match down there."
 
Much like the Cowgirls, Northwestern State had to replace a key portion of its offense, record-setting middle blocker Glynna Johnson, who established NSU's single-season hitting percentage record (.370) this past season.
 
Freshman Alexis Warren leads Northwestern State in both kills (144) and total attempts (597). She is one of five Lady Demons to produce a double-figure kill match this season. The latest was freshman middle blocker Kourtney Seaton, who knocked down a career-best 10 kills against Oral Roberts on Saturday.
 
As Southland play begins, Kiracofe is happy with the development of his team's quality depth, something that he said he hopes can sustain his team across its 16 conference matches.
 
"Coming into two-a-days, we thought we would be better because of the depth," he said. "From Day 1 in practice, we had more depth, and we thought it would make us better in practice and pay of fin matches. We've had some times where we've had to call on the bench, and they've produced for us. We've gotten some wins that way. There's a healthy competition every day in practice that makes everyone better. At the end of the day Saturday (in Tulsa), we told the starters they need to continue to prove themselves on a daily basis.
 
"We're able to find what works against teams we're playing. If we're lacking something, we can bring somebody in that can produce for us."