NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State looks to get back on track this week as it enters the first full week of the second half of the conference schedule.
 
The Demons (9-12, 5-5) begin the final stretch of the regular season with two teams they had success against earlier this year with a pair of sweeps at New Orleans and at home against Nicholls. They look to equal those results in the opposite venues this week.
 
First serve of the lone home match of the week against New Orleans (4-16, 2-7) is set for 2 p.m. on Thursday, moved up from the original 6:30 p.m. start due to Saturday's home football game being moved to Thursday as well. There will be no live stream of the match but live stats will be available at www.nsudemons.com.
 
NSU suffered a pair of road sweeps a week ago at McNeese and Southeastern. After playing through the shock of hearing of the death of fellow student-athlete Ronnie Caldwell on Thursday, the Demons put together a solid showing against the hottest team in the conference in Southeastern.
 
"We had some good moments on Saturday against Southeastern but we kind of got in our own way late in a couple of those sets," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We're still trying to adjust and find a new lineup right now because of injuries. That hasn't been the easiest thing but it never is, especially sicne we had an established good group that we knew could compete with everybody. Shuffling that up at this point has been a challenge but every team has to do it at some point."
 
An injury to Tessa Gerwig has thrown a late wrench in the Demon plan and lineup, forcing the Demons to search for a replacement for the team's second leading kill producer and fourth-best block producer. Gerwig was averaging two kills and over a block per set during conference matches this year.
 
As the Demons search for who will step in and fill that role, with a handful of underclassmen options on hand, it creates some unknowns for opponents in their preparations, something the Demons will also be dealing with this week.
 
The Privateers sit near the bottom of the league standings, currently holding the final spot in the tournament bracket with their two wins coming over the two teams below them in the standings.
 
"At this point in the season when teams may be struggling or have some injuries or whatever the case may be you're not always sure what you're going to get on game day," Kiracofe said. "That makes things difficult from a scouting perspective because of the unknowns. But at the end of the day it's really about what we can figure out on our side of the net to find a consistent lineup that we can count on."
 
NSU swept the Privateers a month ago after two close sets, 25-23 and 25-22, with hitting percentages above .230 in each of those sets. The Demons poured it on in the third with a .423 efficiency, picking up 12 kills on 26 attempts and just one error.
 
Teresa Garza led the team with 14 kills while four other players contributed five or more kills. The Privateers were led by top attacker Karen Cordero Barr and her 18 kills and 10 digs. Barr had five kills in the first and nine in the second.
 
"They serve tough, they're scrappy and keep plays alive and it'll be up to us to be able to put the point away, which we've struggled with at times," Kiracofe said. "We do it spurts and times where we look fantastic offensively and other where when it matters it comes down to us making it happen."