NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State played in and fought for several high-pressure, critical points this past weekend, setting the stage for what will undoubtedly be the norm through the rest of the season. 
 
The Lady Demons (6-9) begin Southland Conference play on Saturday afternoon against Southeastern, the first of 14 matches across the next month and a half that is sure to produce crucial moments on a weekly basis.
 
Saturday's match is set for 1 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum. As with every NSU home volleyball match, admission is free. Fans are required to adhere to the University's clear bag policy and encouraged to wear masks while inside the arena.
 
Live coverage links, including video, can be found at www.nsudemons.com or on the NSU Athletics mobile app, a free download via either the Apple of Google stores.
 
NSU enters the first conference match of the season after gaining some invaluable experience at the very competitive Maverick Invitational in Arlington, Texas a week ago. Following a solid 3-0 sweep of Prairie View A&M on Friday, the Lady Demons engaged in battles with Tennessee State and UT Arlington where six of the eight sets were decided by four points or less.
 
In each of those sets key moments and set-determining situations happening after both teams had crossed the 20-point mark. While not all of them ended in NSU's favor, the experience of the constant fight to the end defines what's ahead for NSU in conference play.
 
"Those are the situations you have to find yourself in to be able to start to feel some level of comfort down the road," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We're going to find ourselves in those, this next point matters moments, during conference where the entire set comes down to where you serve, how do you defend who we know is going to get it and how do we turn that around into a point."
 
Sophomore outside Breanna Burrell provided key kills in key moments throughout the weekend in route to career performances against Prairie View and UTA. She established a new career high in kills against the Mavericks with 19 and at one point late in the must-win fourth set scored seven of NSU's points in a row all on kills.
 
"I wanted to be more consistent that I had been in our previous games," Burrell said. "I've really been trying to lock in at practice, really listen to what the coaches are saying and take to heart what they've been telling me. I feel like it's taken a little bit longer for that information to really click for me, but I feel like it has."
 
Burrell's offensive outburst was just one of the career-best performances in the five-set thriller. Setter Piper Boydstun doled out 51 assists in the match and outside hitter Symone Wesley tallied 31 digs, usually a feat reserved for liberos.
 
The Lady Demons' conference-opening opponent is Southeastern Louisiana (1-10) who picked up its first win of the season earlier this week at Southern Miss.
 
"They're interesting and a very good 1-10 team," Kiracofe said. "They have found themselves with a new roster than what they expected at the end of the spring season. They've got some freshmen in there playing some roles they probably didn't expect at this moment, but they've taken the past four weeks, and after a rough start, have begun to get on a roll."
 
The Lady Lions have played in four straight five-set matches, forcing the decisive fifth set after falling behind 2-0 in each of the past two matches. SLU has had its two highest attack percentages of the season in the past two matches, both marks rank first and second in the conference in five-set matches.
 
Like the Lady Demons, SLU has an outside that has been attacking well over the past week. Cicily Hidalgo has had 23 or more kills in each of the past three matches and eclipsed the 30-kill mark on Tuesday. She leads the conference in total kills (174) and kills per set (3.70) entering league play.
 
"She's been on fire," Kiracofe said about Hidalgo. "They've been giving her the ball and she's been scoring a ton. They've got a good right side; good middle and the freshman setter is starting to figure out how to be able to put those attackers into position to score. While it doesn't show on the record, they're beginning to figure things out and it's starting to work for them."
 
Saturday's match will be the first meeting between the two this season and the second in a row in Natchitoches. SLU won 3-1 during the spring season, a match where all four sets were decided by four points or less.