MOBILE, Alabama – With Tuesday's win at Jackson State, Northwestern State volleyball is off to its best start at 3-1 since 2010.
 
The Lady Demons will attempt to continue that trend this weekend in three matches at the Jaguar Invitational at South Alabama.
 
NSU opens the weekend's festivities Friday against Mississippi Valley State and ends day one against the host Jaguars. The Lady Demons close their trip to the Gulf Coast on Saturday with Tennessee State at 11:30 a.m.
 
The Lady Demons have already won a pair of matches where the intensity of the final set was at its highest – Montana State and Jackson State. Those wins served as excitement and encouragement for coach Sean Kiracofe regarding the 2019 team's capabilities. 
 
"It snowballs," Kiracofe said. "The players have in the back of their head that we're going to get through this. 
 
"Everyone has been composed and has made some things happen whether they're really clean situations on our end or making stuff out of a bad situation. We just seem to find a way to make it work and end up in our direction."
 
On the heels of a successful opening weekend in Arkansas, Hannah Brister earned Southland Offensive Player of the Week honors with a league-leading 59 kills. She added 17 to her total Tuesday and is already nearing the century mark through just four matches. It took her 11 matches to reach 100 kills in 2018. 
 
Brister's offensive partner in crime so far has been Alexis Warren. The senior has shown her versatility on the floor, sitting at second on the team in kills, third in digs, and second in reception percentage.
 
"I don't know where to start," Kiracofe said. "She helps us offensively, she's solid at outside blocking. Defensively, we wouldn't be able to do what we want without her in there, and then ball control and serve receive. 
 
"There is not a part of the game that she doesn't play a role in making us better. It may not always show up on the box score, but she is doing so much to help us in every part of the game."
 
NSU faces its second straight SWAC opponent on Friday in MVSU, the second of four on the 2019 schedule, with a chance to extend an impressive streak.
 
The Lady Demons have won eight consecutive sets entering the weekend, the longest such streak under Kiracofe. The record of 11 was set in 2013 and included sweeps of McNeese and Houston Baptist in the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
MVSU (1-3) earned its first win of the season Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of Crowley's Ridge. 
 
South Alabama, on the other hand, is still searching for its first notch in the left column after going 0-3 at the Purdue-Fort Wayne Invitational this past weekend. The Jaguars are expecting to get a boost from the return of middle blocker Morgan Stalcup, who missed half of the 2018 season with a knee injury.
 
"It's about being consistent for us with Mississippi Valley," Kiracofe said. "Hopefully we'll be able to put ourselves in a position where we can put some people in to get some experience at different positions. 
 
"South Alabama has a ton of returning talent, and their offense is incredibly fast, so we are going to have to be very focused every time the ball transitions over the net."
 
Tennessee State (2-2) has the second best record of the four teams heading to Mobile this weekend. They picked up a signature win verses Auburn in the first match of the season at the War Eagle Invitational this past weekend. 
 
A 3-1 win against Chattanooga on Tuesday evened their record. The Lady Tigers bring a balanced attack with four players with double-digit kills, led by Aniya Williams and Julia Pierson, who each have 30.
 
"Tennessee State is not quite as fast as South Alabama offensively," Kiracofe said. "They've had a great year so far. They've got some new players, and it's really improved what they have as far as their competitive level. So that one and South Alabama are going to be two tough ones for us."
 
Live stats and video will be available for all matches and accessible through nsudemons.com.
 
Stay connected to Northwestern State volleyball by following @NSUDemonsVB on Twitter and Instagram or liking Northwestern State volleyball on Facebook.


Jaguar Invitational Schedule
Friday
11:30 a.m. - Northwestern State vs Mississippi Valley State
2 p.m. - Tennessee State vs South Alabama
4:30 p.m. - Mississippi Valley State vs Tennessee State
7 p.m. - Northwestern State vs South Alabama

Saturday
11:30 a.m. - Tennessee State vs Northwestern State
2 p.m. - Mississippi Valley State vs South Alabama