NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team returns home for the first time in almost a month Thursday night, bringing with it a historic start to Southland Conference play.
The Lady Demons have taken a page from one of college football's foremost motivators as they attempt to extend their three-match winning streak when they host defending Southland Conference regular-season and tournament champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum.
"We've been saying a Nick Saban quote, 'I don't care what you did yesterday; what have you done today to get better?'" second-year head coach
Sean Kiracofe said. "We think about that individually and as a team – how you're approaching today to get better for tomorrow. It's a great quote, and they've really bought in. We've done some good things, but it doesn't matter anymore.
"You have to go out there and get better in order to compete against the upper half and the top teams in conference, which we'll get to see against Corpus Christi."
Thursday's match is the designated "Orange Out" match for 2016. Orange T-shirts will be available for $10 while Yeti Ramblers and a signed volleyball will be available in an auction. There also will be a raffle for a Yeti Rambler. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which is dedicated to funding research and finding cures for leukemia and other blood cancers.
Northwestern State (8-10, 3-0) opened conference play with consecutive road wins at McNeese, Nicholls and Central Arkansas, marking the program's first 3-0 road start and its first overall 3-0 start since 2013.
NSU never has started a Southland season with four consecutive wins. After an impressive road trip to start conference play, the Lady Demons will try to make more history in a welcoming environment.
"It's great to be home," Kiracofe said. "You get to sleep you in your own bed and wake up and have that comfort level of having family and friends in the stands. You have that crowd behind you to get you through tough situations and to keep pushing you through when you're on a roll. That's why everyone loves playing at home."
The Islanders (7-6, 2-0) produced an unbeaten Southland mark in 2015 and captured the conference tournament and resulting NCAA Tournament berth.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is one of three Southland teams a half-game behind NSU in the conference standings. Stephen F. Austin and Houston Baptist are the other two unbeaten teams in conference play.
"They returned a lot of their talent," Kiracofe said. "Their setter (Kristyn Nicholson), their libero (Kate Klepetka) and they moved (Brittany) Gilpin, their middle, to the outside so they can get her the ball more often. She's been really effective offensively with a high hitting percentage, and it improves their size across the net. They're able to block extremely well. It's going to be a really tough matchup."
