NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team aims to keep its home record unblemished when it hosts Texas A&M – Corpus Christi on Saturday at 1 p.m.

NSU (7-12, 2-2 Southland) won its first home conference match Thursday night with a quick sweep of Incarnate Word. NSU needed just an hour and 25 minutes to move to 2-0 at home this season.

"I think it was very important (sweeping UIW)," libero Channing Burleson said following the match. "We talked about going into this game and starting a streak going into these next few conference games - especially being at home this week - and hopefully taking away Corpus' win streak."

The Lady Demons will no longer have the opportunity to snap AMCC's 37-match conference win streak when the Islanders (8-9, 5-1), the two-time defending Southland Conference Tournament champions, visit. Corpus Christi has started hot in Southland action once again, but fell for the first time in conference since 2014 on Thursday night at Central Arkansas in a five-set match.

"Everyone's been giving them a fight this season," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "They've rolled through the last two seasons. They've had some struggles here and there, but really were dominant.

"This year that hasn't been there, and I'm sure they'll take that as some motivation to say 'We still have it.' But everyone's been able to push them, so we're looking forward to seeing them on Saturday to take a shot at them."

In order to improve to 3-0 at home this season, the Lady Demons will need another combined team effort to keep the Islanders, who boast a roster of four preseason all-conference selections, at bay.

Led by first-team all-conference selections outside hitter Britney Gilpin and setter Kristyn Nicholson, the Islanders are third in the conference in hitting percentage (.272), kills per set (13.79) and assists per set (13.00).

The Lady Demons have leaned on communication between front line and back line players to hold Southland opponents to a .183 hitting percentage, fourth-best in conference.

The NSU defense is led by formidable middles, Madeline Drake and Kourtney Seaton and a crafty libero in Burleson. Drake and Seaton have a combined 107 total blocks while Burleson has dug 298 attack attempts this season.

Seaton and Drake provide offensive firepower as well, combining for 249 kills. The pair, who are hitting .292 and .222, respectively, also leads the team in hitting percentage of players with more than 100 attacks.

Outside hitter Reagan Rogers looks to have her swing back following a tough opening to the conference season. Entering the Incarnate Word match, Rogers was hitting .054 in conference matches. Following her-16 kill (.267 hitting percentage) match against UIW, Rogers is now hitting .124 with 3.15 kills per set in conference matches.

Admission to all NSU home volleyball matches is free thanks to the support of Red River Mill Credit Uniton, and updates will be posted live on Twitter @NSUDemonsVB.