NATCHITOCHES – Following its first loss in nearly a month, Northwestern State looks to rebound in a big way when it returns home on Thursday to host Lamar.
 
The potential of a record-tying eight-match winning streak slipped through the Demons' fingers on Tuesday in a 3-2 road loss at Texas A&M-Commerce where the Lions held off a total of seven set or match points in the second and fifth sets to win the match.
 
NSU (7-8, 3-1) will attempt to put the tough loss in the rearview mirror right away when it hosts Lamar (0-14, 0-3) at 6:30 p.m. at Prather Coliseum on Thursday night. The match will air live on ESPN+ with no charge for admission for fans wishing to attend in person.
 
Take away the lethargic first one and a half sets of Tuesday's loss and the Demons looked just as good if not better than they have in each of the previous seven straight matches.
 
Across the final three sets of the match, NSU attackers hit a combined .252 with just eight total errors, a stark contrast to the .013 percentage and 18 errors in the first two sets. And after hitting into the Commerce block for five rejections in the first set, the Lions had just five blocks in the final four sets combined, with just two in the final two sets.
 
NSU were dominant through the final three sets on the way to a match record tying 20 total blocks, the second time in the past two seasons reaching the rare number. Reaghan Thompson also tied the individual single-match record with 13 total blocks and earned her fourth career kill-block double-double, three more than any other player in NSU history.
 
Offensively, there were also five instances in the final three sets where an NSU attacker had three or more kills on four or more swings without an error from four different players – Teresa Garza, Jordan Gamble, Breanna Burrell and Thompson.
 
All things that the Demons have seen over and over through the past month of the season and the baseline from which they look to build and add to as they move into a home match against the Cardinals.
 
"We're using our back row offense more but it's not where I want it or had hoped for it to be at this moment in the season," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "It's allowing us to get a ball back and turn it into transition points but it's not scoring points for us right off the swing. I don't want people to go out and force things in situations where they shouldn't but I feel like we could be getting a couple more points out of that."
 
Garza has been the primary option for the Demons from the back row and leads the team with 133 kills and a 2.61 per set average following her 15-kill night to lead the team on Tuesday. With her 12 digs and five blocks it was her second near triple-double in as many matches.
 
Kiracofe is also looking for a crisper connection in the middle between the setters and stalwart defenders Thompson and Gamble to take the overall production to the next level.
 
The duo each had 10 kills against Commerce, with just two errors between them on 22 swings each and finished with attack percentages over .360. They have produced 40 kills between them across the past two matches.
 
"Our middles are producing but they aren't necessarily connecting in the way I would like to," Kiracofe said. "We have been mixing up our offense a little in serve receive. Now we just need to know we've got option one, two and three available to us and be able to morph in and out of those quickly."
 
The Demons look for their sixth home win of the season in seven tries and to extend their home winning streak to that same number.