LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State picked up a big win on Thursday against HCU in thrilling five-set fashion.
 
For that win to mean even more to the Demons, they aim to use the confidence boost it provided to back it up with another win, this time on the road at McNeese.
 
First serve for the final set of back-to-back road matches this season is set for 11 a.m. The match will not be streamed on ESPN+ but live stats will be made available through nsudemons.com.
 
Throughout much of Thursday's match, the Demons played perhaps their best and most complete volleyball of the season. That was certainly evident in the error-free second set NSU ran away with 25-14 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
 
As a team the Demons hit .500, the best single set offensive production of the season, with Reaghan Thompson and Teresa Garza each contributing five kills, middle blocker Samaya Wesson adding three and right side Olivia Bush getting one.
 
The kind of production and balance that head coach Sean Kiracofe has wanted to see from his team all season and found more and more frequently over the last month despite the final score results.
 
"Here in the last few matches we've gotten a whole lot more production out of our middles and that has been something we've been able to start relying on," Kiracofe said. "If we find ourselves in a position against a team where that's going to be taken away, like HCU likes to do, it's not a bad thing when you've got those two out there that we know can go out and score."
 
Thompson and Garza became the first teammates in NSU history to each record 20 kills in a single match during the rally scoring era. Add the 16 kills total, eight each from middles Wesson and Deja Benjamin, and the Demon offense becomes one of the most formidable in the entire Southland Conference.
 
The ease at which the Demons scored in the second set against the Huskies, and how they were able to stay locked in during the clutch moments of the fifth were thanks to the consistency from the person dishing out the ball, freshman setter Gabby Seeds.
 
"She ran the offense incredibly well," Garza said about Seeds' performance against HCU. "Coming in as a freshman and running a 5-1 can be a lot of pressure and she handled it so well. Offensively, defensively and just spreading the ball out and having everyone produce well." 
 
Seeds set a new career high with 53 assists in the match and added three kills of her own, two blocks and six digs.
 
The Demons aim to keep the momentum, confidence and kills flowing against a McNeese team that has lost five straight matches, and like the Demons, battling for a position in the conference tournament with just two weeks left in the season.
 
The focal point for NSU will be senior outside McKenzie Moore who has been the option for the Cowgirl offense all season. She leads the Southland in total kills (325) and kills per set (4.28) this season and the only player averaging more than four kills per set this season.
 
Moore was held to single-digit kills for the first time in conference play this year in McNeese's last match at A&M-Corpus Christi. It snapped a streak of 15 straight matches with double-digit kills. 
 
Defensively Bailey Tillman remains one of the best liberos in the league and is the reigning conference libero of the year. She is second this season in digs per set at 4.88 but is putting up a 6.3 per set average over the past five matches.
 
A balanced NSU offense plus its top-level defensive presence, that had 14 blocks against HCU on Thursday and more than 80 digs, are a fierce combination for a team with an injection of one more key ingredient – confidence.
 
"We're going to keep going at practice like we have been," Garza said. "This [the win against HCU] isn't enough. We're still hungry for the next win and we believe we're finishing the season undefeated."