NATCHITOCHES – It has been a long process, but it is one the Northwestern State volleyball team hopes to see come to fruition this weekend.
 
For the second time in school history, Northwestern State is the host institution for the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament. Thanks to sponsorships from the Natchitoches Historic Downtown Development Commission and the Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Lady Demons will have a chance to make a long tournament run within the confines of their home arena, Prather Coliseum.
 
Seventh-seeded Northwestern State opens tournament play at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the last of four quarterfinal matchups. The Lady Demons (12-14) face No. 2 seed Central Arkansas (24-5).
 
"They've been preparing for it," fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We've done a good job for the past two years, or however long it has been since we found out we would host the tournament. I think we'll be fine."
 
The Lady Demons won six of nine matches at home this season. One of those three losses came against Central Arkansas, which enters the tournament on an eight-match win streak.
 
"I expect it to be a complete battle," Kiracofe said. "I think we match up well with them. The first set, the last time they were here, it was close, but they kept that separation and controlled the first set. We flipped it and completely controlled the second set and had opportunities in the third and fourth sets. I love the matchups. It is a good match for us and will be a tough battle."
 
That battle features five of the 18 players who were named either first- or second-team all-conference – Central Arkansas' Samantha Anderson (1^st), Haley Tippett (1^st) and Savannah Allen (2^nd) and Northwestern State's Channing Burleson (1^st) and Hannah Brister (2^nd) – as well as a pair of honorable mention honorees in NSU's Madeline Drake and UCA's Emily Doss.
 
Burleson and Drake are two of five Northwestern State seniors who have a chance to repeat what the NSU senior class of 2014 did – win the conference tournament at home.
 
To that end, current NSU assistant coach Stacey DiFrancesco was part of that 2014 team and has provided key insight for the current roster.
 
"We know it doesn't happen all the time," senior outside hitter Reagan Rogers said. "She's in our ear, constantly reminding us how important it is and how amazing it can be."
 
DiFrancesco's influence has been felt up and down the roster.
 
"She's given us a lot of advice," senior outside hitter/right side Victoria Harris said. "Coming in as a lower seed, we have a clear record. We need to be disciplined in order to win.
 
The Lady Demons enter the tournament as winners of three of their final four matches of the season.
 
In 2017, NSU closed the regular season with back-to-back sweeps of Nicholls and McNeese before falling to Houston Baptist in the first round of the tournament.
 
McNeese swept Northwestern State in the regular-season finale this past Saturday, snapping the Lady Demons' three-match win streak.
 
"Last year, we rolled through McNeese in three sets and things didn't go the way we wanted them to in the first round, so we'll flip it around and see if that puts us in a better mind-set to be hungrier going into the first round," Kiracofe said.
 
By virtue of hosting the tournament, Northwestern State had the option to play the final match of Friday's four-match schedule. The Lady Demons will do so at 6:30 p.m.
 
Hosting the 2018 tournament has been on the Lady Demons' collective minds since the announcement was made. Playing host to the event can come with both positive thoughts and potential negatives.
 
"It's a good feeling to be at home, sleeping in my bed, having my family here and having a nice home crowd," Drake said. "It's special."
 
The comforts of home, however, come along with increased expectations.
 
"I've talked with (NSU coach) Donald (Pickett) with softball and (baseball coach) Bobby (Barbier) from past experiences," Kiracofe said. "The first round is hard. You put a lot of extra expectations on yourself for being at home and wanting to go farther into those next rounds. Every one of them has said, once you get past that first round, home-court advantage really starts to kick in."
 
When the Lady Demons gathered for practice Wednesday afternoon, they saw their home court had a different look to it, courtesy of the Southland Conference office staff.
 
"(Playing at home) is huge, but it was a little weird walking into practice with them setting up and putting 'Southland' on everything," Burleson said.
 
Looks aside, Burleson said one thing won't change.
 
"The home-court advantage will be huge," she said.
 
Neither will the keys to victory for the Lady Demons – one of which outnumbers the rest.
 
"Execution," said senior setter Kathryn Wristen.