MEMPHIS, Tenn. – One of the benefits of being the youngest team in Division I volleyball is there is no lack of energy on the floor. 
 
Northwestern State has shown that floor energy in practice, their intrasquad scrimmage and in this past weekend's exhibition against Louisiana Tech. As the Demons enter the opening weekend of the 2025 season, first-year head coach Ben Kaszeta feels confident that trend continues to be the reality.
 
"When we're playing and having fun, we play better," Kaszeta said. "It might sound like a simple thing but if we're having fun while we do stuff, we play with joy. It's contagious. Not only does that help on the court but it makes people want to come watch us play. So it all works together. Let's play with good energy. Let's have fun with what we're doing. Let's go be aggressive doing it."
 
The Demons open the season with a set of three matches in Memphis at their Rumble at the Roane. Friday's schedule features a split doubleheader beginning with Tennessee State at 1 p.m. and the host Memphis at 7 p.m. The Demons have a quick turnaround to close the weekend with a 9:30 a.m. meeting with USC Upstate on Saturday.
 
Only Friday evening's match against Memphis will air on ESPN+. Fans can get updates on the other two matches by following @NSUDemonsVB on Twitter/X or via the live stats link on the volleyball schedule page at nsudemons.com.
 
The Demons' first opponent, Tennessee State, find themselves in a similar youth-led scenario as it enters the season. The Tigers bring nine freshmen into their first collegiate season, like the Demons, among the most freshmen on one team in the country this year.
 
With so many first-year players on both sides, the emphasis leading into match one has been internal – learning systems, learning teammates. While still a priority in the early stages of the season, more external factors have entered the chat.
 
"Everything that we've done to this point has been about us controlling what we want to do," Kaszeta said. "But this weekend we'll have a little bit of film on our opponents and some of their strengths and weaknesses. So it's how do we attack things with that information. It'll be our first introduction into things not solely being about us. How do we apply the defensive philosophy we've talked about and change it slightly based on the opponent."
 
NSU got its first taste of those external factors and making adjustments in-game in the exhibition against Louisiana Tech. They erased a near 10-point deficit in one set to pull back within one in the late stages of the match.
 
Each serve during that stretch against the Bulldogs and each serve in the coming three matches this weekend in Memphis serves as an opportunity to gain comfortability on the floor for the Demons.
 
"It's the first weekend of the season. We're learning and still figuring out who we are," Kaszeta said. "All of our young ones out there are just trying to figure out what it means to be a college athlete. So we're not going to complicate things crazy. We're going to learn how to game plan small pieces over these first couple of weekends so we're ready for that conference opener."