NATCHITOCHES -- The second half of perhaps the most challenging week of the Northwestern State volleyball season arrives Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
After falling in four sets to defending Southland Conference Tournament champion Central Arkansas on Thursday, the Lady Demons host defending regular-season champion Stephen F. Austin.
 
Streaming video of Saturday's match, which comes on Volleyball Reunion Day, is available through www.NSUDemons.com and on the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded from both the Apple Store and Google Play.
 
"It doesn't get any more difficult than this week for us," fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We went over there (on Sept. 25), and it was a lot like (Thursday's match against Central Arkansas). When we were playing the way we could, we were point for point with them. Ton of credit to SFA. When they had a certain advantage, they would get those two or three points and wouldn't give them up."
 
The Lady Demons (6-9, 2-3) will not only welcome the Ladyjacks (18-2, 5-0) to Prather Coliseum for the first time since the 2016 season, but they also will bring back 15 or so former players for the first reunion of Kiracofe's coaching era.
 
Among the group expected are several members of the 2014 Northwestern State squad that captured the Southland Conference Tournament championship and made the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
"The atmosphere in Prather has improved every year since I've been here, and it's fantastic," Kiracofe said. "We have a home football game, and our alumni are coming back in, so it's going to be extra motivation for the girls and will add to the feeling in the gym."
 
Stephen F. Austin enters Saturday's morning matchup on a 15-match win streak, including five straight conference matches.
 
The Ladyjacks took the first meeting of the season between the teams, 3-0, on Sept. 25. Despite being swept, Northwestern State played well, giving the Lady Demons some confidence entering the second of their two matches with SFA this season.
 
"We tried something different the first time over there," KIracofe said. "I don't know if we'll do that or not. We have it in our back pocket if we want to switch. We have a lot of options to throw at people.
 
"They're good. The question for them comes down to is, if someone is having an off night, can someone else step up? Hopefully, we can get them in a position to where we can force someone to have to step up and see if they can do it."