Lady Demon Volleyball | 8/30/2018 9:23:00 AM

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri – Week 2 of the 2018 volleyball season will be the busiest for Northwestern State.
 
It also includes one of the more unique matches the Lady Demons will face in the season.
 
NSU's second of three matches at the Redhawks Invitational hosted by Southeast Missouri State comes against state rival ULM. Instead of facing the Warhawks in Prather Coliseum or roughly two hours away in Monroe, the Lady Demons will travel nearly nine hours to face their former conference foes.
 
"We wanted them to play here this year, but that didn't work out," fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Hopefully, we get that going again in the next few years. We're looking forward to playing them nonetheless."
 
The matchup with ULM (2-1) is set for 4:30 p.m. Friday and will mark NSU's second match that day. The Lady Demons (1-2) open tournament play against Radford (3-0) at 10 a.m. Friday.
 
NSU concludes its lone three-match tournament of the season against host Southeast Missouri (4-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Redhawks have not dropped a set in their first four matches of the season entering the tournament.
 
All told, NSU's three opponents have combined for a 9-1 record in the early portion of 2018. NSU has faced two of the three opponents during the Kiracofe era, going 2-0 against ULM and splitting a pair of matches with SEMO.
 
"Radford is a good team, solid, well-coached," Kiracofe said. "They've lost some key players from last year, but they've got some really good talent ready to step in. They're always going to be good. They'll be a tough matchup. They you've got someone at home like SEMO. That's always going to be a tough matchup, especially on their home court."
 
The middle match against ULM provides the Lady Demons a chance to pick up their third victory against the Warhawks in as many seasons.
 
For the first time in Kiracofe's four years as head coach, NSU was unable to schedule a mid-week match against either ULM or UL Lafayette. Kiracofe has reiterated the importance of playing state rivals even as the majority of his roster is from out of state.
 
NSU has two Louisiana players – Hannah Brister and Reagan Lee – on its roster, but 15 of Northwestern State's players are from Texas and the remaining member – senior middle blocker Madeline Drake – hails from Oklahoma.
 
That doesn't mean the Lady Demons haven failed to pick up on the importance of those rivalry matches.
 
"You hear it around town," Kiracofe said. "You can feel it in the gym – that it means a little bit more. When you work hard and win a long rally, the crowd explodes. There's just something extra to it. They absolutely buy into it."
 
Redhawks Invitational Schedule
Friday
10 a.m. –Northwestern State vs. Radford
12:30 p.m. – ULM at Southeast Missouri State
4:30 p.m. – Northwestern State vs. ULM
7 p.m. – Radford at Southeast Missouri State
Saturday
11 a.m. – ULM vs. Radford
2 p.m. – Northwestern State at Southeast Missouri State