HOUSTON – For Northwestern State volleyball the city of Houston may as be Natchitoches South.
 
Seven Demons (3-1) hail from the greater Houston area and make their first of two trips to their hometown on the schedule this year with the Flo Hyman Classic hosted by the University of Houston.
 
NSU is one of three teams, two of them from Louisiana, participating in the classic this weekend. They begin play on Friday at 4 p.m. against UL Lafayette before a match against the host Cougars on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
Live stats will be available for both matches with only the NSU-Houston match airing on ESPN+.
 
Svoboda, Teresa Garza and Amina Attra all played club volleyball together at AVA (Absolute Volleyball Academy) in Houston, run by Garza's mom and Texas volleyball Hall of Famer Katy, following their senior prep seasons. Olivia Bush, also an AVA alum, made the 90-minute drive from her home in Port Arthur to play for the club.
 
"It's always a special thing, especially all of us that are from Houston," senior libero Ashlyn Svoboda said. "You get to see people you don't normally get to on a daily basis. Family, friends it's always good to see people when you've been away at school and go back home."
 
Reaghan Thompson (Kemah), Deja Benjamin (Houston) and Makenna Tryon (Waller) make up the other three Houston-based Demons on this year's team.
 
The common bond of growing up in the same area that half the team shares has helped set a baseline for connectivity for a team that is still learning each other's style and abilities in match. The emphasis on competition from head coach Sean Kiracofe this season hasn't hurt things either as the Demons have matched the best start to a season under Kiracofe. It is the fourth time since 2000 any NSU team has had three wins in the first four matches of a season.
 
"We have that mentality of knowing we're going to win and wanting to win," Svoboda said. 
"Getting ourselves out of holes and if we make an error, just moving on and getting past them has improved from last season. I think overall it is a great atmosphere and we have really meshed well."
 
Thompson and Garza have led the way offensively for Northwestern. Both are averaging more than 3.25 kills per set with a combined .212 hitting percentage and the ability to take over a match at any given moment.
 
Thompson, the reigning Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week, has already produced two 20-kill matches this year and Garza has had back-to-back 17-kill performances entering the weekend in Houston. They have the exact same number of digs through four matches (53), tied for second most on the team, and combined for 18 blocks.
 
The Demons have a conference-best 2.76 block per set average so far this year thanks to the pair of elite blocking outsides to go along with new middles Benjamin and Samaya Wesson, one of the rate non-Houston natives.
 
Benjamin and Bush became the first teammates to each record 10 blocks in a single match in program history. They, along with Wesson, account for three of the top four best blockers in the conference entering the second weekend.
 
Even with the better-than-Kiracofe-anticipated blocking numbers and some highly effective and efficient offensive numbers, there are still areas of improvement the Demons will look for following a 3-2 win against Jackson State and heading into a pair of challenging matches.
 
"I think we're still looking to be more comfortable with each other on the court," Svoboda said. "We have a lot of new faces out there. A couple of us are returners so we know how each other play but still trying to get everyone together on the same page. Having our communication get better on the court is what we can work on."