NEW ORLEANS – In Sean Kiracofe's three seasons at the helm of the Northwestern State volleyball program, the Lady Demons are perfect against New Orleans.
 
As the Lady Demons (5-7, 1-1) prepare to face the Privateers (8-9, 2-1), they will do so understanding a much different UNO squad awaits them at 6 p.m. Thursday inside the Human Performance Center.
 
With two wins in their first three Southland Conference matches, the Privateers are off to their best start since entering the conference in 2013.
 
"They've always been a team that is difficult to play, but you found ways to pull away at the end," Kiracofe said. "Some of that is points you've earned, and some of it is points they've given up. They've cut that out now."
 
To Kiracofe's point, the Privateers rank fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.208) overall and are second in that stat in league play (.249).
 
Individually, Kyra Hunter leads the conference in hitting percentage in league play, knocking down 14 kills against one error for a .481 hitting percentage. NSU's Madeline Drake ranks fifth in the league in hitting percentage in conference matches at .400.
 
Thursday's match is the second in three days for Northwestern State and the midpoint of a five-day, three-match road trip that concludes Saturday morning at Nicholls.
 
"It breaks up our normal flow of scouting opponents, and they're difficult opponents too, which doesn't help," Kiracofe said. "It's a worrisome match going (to New Orleans) after you played a big match Tuesday against SFA."
 
Despite falling 3-0 to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night, Northwestern State was in all three sets against the league's preseason favorites.
 
Reagan Rogers had nine kills to pace the Lady Demons against SFA while Alexis Warren added eight kills for the second straight conference match.
 
In NSU's first two conference matches, Warren has collected 16 kills and is tied for the team lead in kills per set at 2.29.
 
"She's doing great right now," Kiracofe said of Warren. "We've said it a lot in our individual meetings that we may have asked too much of her as a freshman. Ball control, defense, scoring, absolutely every aspect of the game, we told her you have to produce, and she did a fantastic job of that as a freshman.
 
"I think she took it too far into her sophomore year, thinking she had to score every single time she touched the ball. When you force things like that, errors happen. She's done a much better job this year of picking and choosing her moments, and it's really paid off."