Brooke Wood, Reagan Rogers
Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services

Lady Demon Volleyball Drew Bartlett - Graduate Assistant

Volleyball carrying momentum into road match at UCA

Lady Demon Volleyball Drew Bartlett - Graduate Assistant

Volleyball carrying momentum into road match at UCA

CONWAY, Arkansas – After a short stay at home, the Northwestern State volleyball team heads back on the road Saturday, traveling to Southland Conference foe Central Arkansas.
 
First serve is set for 12 p.m. at the Farris Center.

The Lady Demons (6-11, 1-1 Southland) should be well rested heading into Saturday's contest against the Sugar Bears (13-2, 2-1) as the team made quick work of Alcorn State at home on Thursday with a 3-0 sweep.

NSU and UCA began the SLC season with common opponents on the opening weekend. Central Arkansas opened with a 3-0 loss at Stephen F. Austin before turning around and sweeping Lamar two days later.

"UCA didn't get a win off of SFA, but they did play them close all three sets," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Then they went down to Lamar and Lamar pushed them, and those were all really close as well."

Because of the common opponents, both teams will benefit from the scouting tape heading into this matchup.

"It couldn't be better for us," Kiracofe said. "It's good for UCA as well, to see those exact matchups. It's good for both sides."

UCA is now riding a two-match win streak with a 3-1 win at home against Houston Baptist on Monday.

A season ago, the Lady Demons swept UCA 3-0 on the road early in the conference schedule.

The Lady Demons will continue to rely on a defense that currently ranks fourth in the Southland in opponent hitting percentage. NSU lowered its opponent hitting percentage to .182 following Thursday's -.121 performance against Alcorn.

In matches that NSU has won this season, the Lady Demons have dug the ball well and controlled the pace of the match.

Ball control will once again be key against UCA, the Southland's top-ranked team in kills per set. Channing Burleson, who recorded one dig in just one set against Alcorn, now needs 21 digs to take fifth-place in the Lady Demons' all-time career rankings.

"Defense is one of our strengths," Kiracofe said. "We haven't blocked, at least from a stat perspective, as well as we would have liked this year, but we did a good job against Lamar and SFA.

"SFA played UCA on Thursday before we got there, and UCA only had one block against them. We did way better than that, so I was happy to see that."

Saturday's bout is the Lady Demons' lone conference matchup scheduled for the weekend. NSU will return home on Thursday for its conference home opener against Incarnate Word before hosting Texas A&M – Corpus Christi on Saturday.



 
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Players Mentioned

Channing Burleson

#1 Channing Burleson

OH/L
5' 8"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Channing Burleson

#1 Channing Burleson

5' 8"
Junior
OH/L