COMMERCE, Texas – Northwestern State begins a grueling three-match week on the penultimate week of the season with a road trip to Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
The Demons take on the Lions at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday night and can be seen on ESPN+.
 
The three-match week sees the Demons in three rematches from earlier in the season with two of them taking NSU on the road, Tuesday to Commerce and Saturday to Houston.
 
In the first meeting between the Demons and Lions, the first conference match of the season for both teams, the Lion outside hitter combination of Kitana Tuufuli and Reese Fetty combined for 35 of the Lions 51 total kills on the way to a .311 team hitting percentage in a 3-0 sweep in Prather Coliseum. The total stands as the second best team hitting percentage of the season for the Lions.

"On one hand you have a better idea of what to expect the second time you play someone," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "With that said, Commerce is steadily rotating attackers and have been in and out of a 5-1 and 6-2, so we are not able to simply look at our last match and know what we will be up against. 
 
"Their defense is unique in a way and that remains the same regardless of the offensive system they are in so we should be able to have memory of what should and shouldn't work against it."
 
NSU's Reaghan Thompson produced 16 kills at a .378 rate, but was the only Demon to reach double figures in the match as Teresa Garza had a rare off night in the meeting with just five kills, the fewest number of kills in a match this season for the senior outside.
 
This past week however, the Demon's powerful duo had one of their best two-match spans of the season.
 
Both Thompson and Garza went for 20 kill in the win against HCU, the first teammates to accomplish the feat in the same match in NSU history. Thompson added a 20-dig performance in the match as well and followed it up with another 20-dig outing against McNeese, the first two 20-dig matches of her career.
 
Thompson and Garza each had double-doubles in both matches and Garza has had five or more kills in five of the past nine sets the Demons have played.
 
Both the Demons and Lions snapped five-plus match losing skids this past week with home wins against HCU. The Lions had just nine attack errors, their fewest of the season, in a four-set win over the Huskies. They followed that with a four-set win on the road at Nicholls over the weekend.
 
The Demons could not extend their winning streak on their road trip to McNeese, falling in four sets to the Cowgirls in an error-filled match from both teams.
 
The match also serves as a hugely important one for both teams in terms of conference tournament implications. The Lions look to take a step towards securing a spot in the eight-team field while the Demons remain two games out of the final spot with five matches to go.