NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State volleyball gets one final tune up before it starts the 2025 season when it hosts Louisiana Tech in an exhibition match on Saturday in Prather Coliseum.
 
The match will begin at 1 p.m. and is open to the public as head coach Ben Kaszeta and his youth-laden team see their first action against someone other than themselves this year.
 
As the Demons approach the new season, as the youngest team in Division I volleyball, there was something the first-year coach saw in last weekend's intrasquad scrimmage that stood out above all else, an intangible that often leads to success.
 
"I love how hard we compete," Kaszeta said. "We made a whole lot of mistakes, which I encourage. I want them to go hard at stuff and try new things. They want to do that. They really compete very hard and if we can do that, it's going to equal good things along the way."
 
The competitiveness and subsequent energy came largely from the eight freshmen that make up the Demon roster this year, the second largest freshman class in program history. With only four returners with playing experience, those freshmen will be thrown into the fire right out of the gate.
 
"I thought the freshman gave some good surprises," Kaszeta said. Emmarie (McFarland) and Harper (Cauley) just flat out compete. So the biggest thing for me was watching those two fly around the court like dust bunnies or something. And Elsie (Sanchez Oliver) has a super live arm which is really exciting."
 
Those three true freshmen, along with Julia Whitfield, Melis Özipek and Riley Schubert, will get their first taste of DI volleyball when the Demons face the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
 
In her second year as a Demon but also seeing her first action against an opponent is setter Reagan Hamm, who missed all of the 2024 season with a back injury. She is one of two new setters for the Demons this year along with transfer Jade Longlad. The pair of 6-foot setters give the Demons more offense at that position under Kaszeta.
 
They will also have the benefit of a handful of experienced attackers to give the ball to with the return of middles Deja Benjamin, the lone senior on the team, and Samaya Wesson. They combined for more than 200 blocks a year ago and Benjamin is in search of her third straight 100-block season this year.
 
The displayed their offensive growth in the middle of the offense during the scrimmage and look to maintain Kaszeta's offensive philosophy of, just score, through the season.
 
"We've talked a lot in the preseason about just finding way to score points," Kaszeta said. "It doesn't have to always be pretty. We get stuck in this thing that it has to look a certain way. That we have to go up and crush a ball super hard. 
 
"It's worth the same amount of points whether it comes from a little tip, hits off the block and goes out of bounds or you jump up and blast it. We've been pressing that. Just go score. It doesn't matter how it looks."