THIBODAUX - The Northwestern State volleyball team travels for a matchup at Nicholls on Saturday at 12 p.m. after extending its win streak to three with a five-set comeback against McNeese on Thursday.

The Lady Demons (9-12, 4-2 Southland) travel to Nicholls (3-18, 1-7) with an offense that exploded late against McNeese, with three outside hitters, Reagan Rogers (23), Hannah Brister (17) and Alexis Warren (15), finishing with double-digit kills. Rogers and Brister each tied personal season and career-highs.

Rogers has been the go-to attacker for NSU this season, and with 4.6 kills per set against McNeese, she moved to fifth place in league standings with 3.86 kills per set in conference matches.  

With family and friends making the trip from her hometown of Napoleonville, a 30-minute drive from Thibodaux, Brister and the rest of the Lady Demons will receive an extra boost of motivation from NSU fans Saturday afternoon.

"It's definitely a bigger deal since Hannah's from that area down around Nicholls," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said.

Libero Channing Burleson quietly had her best statistical match of the season in terms of total digs against the Cowgirls, finishing with 28 kills and 5.6 digs per set. Her 5.19 digs per set in conference matches is second-most in individual league standings.

"We've talked about going out these next few games and continuing our win streak," Burleson said. "We're using that as a confidence booster and just going out there and playing it like another game."

Burleson is now just four digs away from overtaking fourth in the NSU all-time career standings.

Leading the team with 68 total blocks this season, middle blocker Madeline Drake has consistently produced in key moments, and she shined once again in the closing moments against McNeese, partnering up with Brister to secure the match-winning point with a combined block.

"It's very rewarding just to see all our hard work is paying off, and seeing the progress we're going to make and the potential we have with this team, " Drake said.

Fellow middle blocker Kourtney Seaton has stepped her defensive game up in conference matches, blocking .81 shots per set, compared to her season average of .66 blocks per set.

The Colonels picked up their first conference win in a five-set match against Abilene Christian a week ago. In that match, Nicholls had two players, outside hitter Stephanie Tobison and setter Jade Piper finish with double-doubles in the win.

Nicholls showed improvement on defense in the win, holding ACU to a .113 hitting percentage, the lowest for the Colonels' defense since holding UIW to a .094 mark in 2015.

"It doesn't show on the record, but they're much improved over last year," Kiracofe said. "They're pushing a lot of people to four and five games." Getting that win against ACU is big for them going into this weekend, so it's not going to be an easy one."

Updates from Saturday's match will be posted live on Twitter @NSUDemonsVB.