NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Two things head coach Sean Kiracofe wanted to see from his team in the final two weeks of the spring season were fight and competitiveness. Northwestern State showed both of them in Thursday's match in Abilene and will need to again against rival Stephen F. Austin.
 
For the final time as Southland Conference opponents the two schools square off on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
The fight Kiracofe wanted to see was never more evident than at the end of the second set against Abilene Christian. Already down a set and trailing ACU 23-18, the Lady Demons fought back with a 7-1 run, staving off three straight set points to even things at 24 and then take the lead at 25-24.
 
Kills from Darria Williams and Autumn Gentry after tying the match held off two more set points until ACU found back-to-back kills to take the 29-27 set. A staple of the 2019 squad that exceled in those situations, the young 2020-21 Lady Demons continue to put themselves in the same situations growing and learning from each one.
 
"The more times you are in those situations and not have them go your way it doesn't feel good," Kiracofe said. "But the more times you're in them it will pay off. You get that comfort level and run through the rolodex in your head, remember the situation from before, remember that one thing didn't work or remember something from the scout you can think about those things if you're comfortable enough in those close situations."
 
The Lady Demons played just seven players against Abilene Christian, five of which are in their first seasons at NSU, three freshmen and two sophomore transfers. Each one added a match of experience to draw from down the road and over the next three matches.
 
Against a tough opponent like SFA (20-5, 8-1), the Lady Demons will need the competitive nature they've shown in most of the past few weeks again on Saturday.
 
The Ladyjacks are not quite as invincible as they have been in previous seasons, losing a regular season conference match for the first time since Oct. 2017 a week ago to Southeastern La., snapping a streak of 42 consecutive wins.
 
A solid defensive performance from SLU, with 81 digs holding SFA to a conference-low .155 hitting percentage was the difference in the match.
 
"They're the weakest they've been in a long time but that's a relative term because they've been so good," Kiracofe said. "They're beatable on any night and Southeastern showed that a week ago beating them in four. You've got opportunities to win the match but there's still talent and depth in positions and they find ways to win because they expect to win."
 
Like NSU, the Ladyjacks are led offensively by young talent. Payton Cerney and Leah Powell, both underclassmen, have nearly half of all the kills on the team averaging 2.5 kills per set each. With senior libero Madelynn Miller holding down the backline, the Ladyjacks, while not unbeatable, still present quite the challenge for a growing NSU squad.
 
The Lady Demons return to Prather Coliseum next week to close the spring schedule with two matches beginning with New Orleans on Thursday night.