NATCHITOCHES – Riding a four-match win streak, including a comeback win over McNeese, the Northwestern State volleyball team returns home for an early-week Southland Conference match against third-place Houston Baptist on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Admission to Tuesday's match, as well as all home volleyball matches, is free thanks to NSU partner Red River Mill Credit Union.

The Lady Demons, currently fifth in the league standings, are just one game behind Houston Baptist (15-6, 7-2) and second-place Stephen F. Austin.

"Tomorrow's a big one," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Houston Baptist has proved that they're one of the better teams in the conference. They gave (first-place) Sam Houston all they could handle, and Sam Houston is undefeated right now.

"It's going to be a really tough one. We would love a big crowd. We're going to need a lot of support. We're going to have to play at our best against them, and we'll see how we stack up against the top of the conference."

The Lady Demons have already faced plenty of stiff Southland competition, playing SFA, Central Arkansas and McNeese on the road as well as hosting and sweeping twice-defending SLC Tournament champions Texas – A&M Corpus Christi in Prather Coliseum.

On Thursday, the Lady Demons fell behind 2-0 early at McNeese, but rallied to extend the team's win streak which now sits at a season-best four matches.

"McNeese is doing well this year," Kiracofe said. "They're a tough team to play. They do things a little bit different than most teams that we see. We knew that going into it, but it was just going to take a while to figure out how we needed to defend and attack it.

"It took a while, obviously, but it was good that we came out of the break and settled down and started executing the way that we needed to, to be able to take that match. It was a fun one, and it was a hard one on the road. "

A key factor in the Lady Demons' success recently has been the uptick in serving effectiveness. Entering the week, NSU (10-12, 5-2 Southland) was 20^th in the nation in total service aces, and with 19 aces in two matches moved to 12^th in the NCAA standings.

"Something that I've stressed since I've got here is to be a good serving team," Kiracofe said. "We really emphasize that that doesn't necessarily mean the number of aces, it's just about disrupting what the other side wants to do offensively. So I don't put a stress on aces, but we have to serve well and that is something that we work on all the time."

Outside hitter Reagan Rogers continues to lead the offensive attack for the Lady Demons. Rogers led the comeback against McNeese with 23 kills and has paced her team in kills in all but one conference match.

Through the opening two sets against McNeese, Rogers had recorded six kills and six errors, but exploded after the break, putting down 17 kills (eight in the fourth) with a .412 hitting percentage.

"She really stepped up," Kiracofe said. "McNeese was in a 6-2, so they had two right sides in front of both of our outsides, so she had a solid block up against her. It was a hard block to be able to swing against. (Starting in the third set) we passed a little bit better. We got the middles involved. We were able to score in different ways, and it kind of opened things up for Reagan and then she took full advantage of it."

Live stats and video for Tuesday's match will available through the Lady Demons volleyball schedule on NSUDemons.com. Updates will also be posted live on Twitter @NSUDemonsVB