NATCHITOCHES – The highly competitive Southland Conference volleyball schedule has reached the halfway point, with Northwestern State one of four teams just two games out of first place in the standing.
 
"This is Southland volleyball to me," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "While there have been some outliers at the top and bottom, there's usually been just a big bunch of teams that are very similar and either team could win on any night. That makes it fun in conference play."
 
Seven teams find themselves within two matches of each other for the first through seventh seed in the SLC Tournament, meaning one good, or bad, weekend could through the standings into even more flux. The razor-thin margin between team increases the importance of each match over the next four weeks.
 
The Lady Demons (12-8, 5-4) being the second half of the conference slate with two teams, one maybe more than the other, that are looking for revenge after earlier losses.
 
NSU hosts McNeese (10-13, 6-3) on Thursday night in Prather Coliseum beginning at 6:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live stat links available at www.nsudemons.com or on the NSU Athletics mobile app. There is no charge for admission to any NSU volleyball home match.
 
The first meeting between the two was a potential season-defining type of match for both sides. After losing Piper Boystun to an injury in the second set, NSU had to adjust on the fly to a new offensive strategy, finding a way to come back from the eventual 2-1 deficit to knock off the Cowgirls in Lake Charles.
 
The watershed moment in the season for the Lady Demons was the latest in a now lengthy list of moments where they overcame major adversity to finish on top. Despite the heartbreak of a loss the Cowgirls have since responded having won four of the last five matches entering Thursday with thoughts of turning the tables on NSU this week.
 
"Knew right after the match there that we were going to have to see them again and they were going to be highly motivated to come in here and do to us what we did there," Kiracofe said. "In theory they should be on fire in those first few points. So, it's about surviving that and getting to a flow of a match."
 
One thing that will help NSU get into the flow of the match will be the play of the defense, led by libero Ashlyn Svoboda and six-rotation star Symone Wesley, who are averaging a combined total of 7.6 digs per set.
 
They will be going head-to-head with statistically the best defensive unit in the Southland as McNeese is the only team averaging 18 or more digs per set and ranks second in blocks per set at 2.3. McNeese libero Bailey Tillman is one of three players with a 5.0 dig per set average in the conference matches.
 
"It's kind of an approach of doing what we can to match their defense," Svoboda said. "They play really good defensive volleyball and we can definitely do it just as well. It really will be a battle of the defenses and going to determine who wins that match."
 
The chess match will be played by the setters on both sides trying to choose the right set for the right person at the right time to give their team the best opportunity with the highest percentage swing. 
 
Reaghan Thompson had several clutch kills in the first meeting in Lake Charles and has reached double digits in the category in each of the past two matches. She is second on the team with 2.32 kills per set in conference matches behind Breanna Burrell's 2.86.
 
Both along with Wesley, Jordan Gamble and Addison McDermott will need to make the most of their chances on the attack against the big McNeese block and stout back line.
 
"When I'm choosing who to set the ball to, I'm looking for who has the best matchup," setter Amina Attra said. "If they're running a 5-1 and the setter is on the outside, I'm going to pick that side because it's a smaller blocker, usually. It's about those kinds of matchups and just changing the flow throughout sets and not constantly setting the same person all the time."