NATCHITOCHES – Plenty of new accompanies Northwestern State volleyball as it returned to practice on Monday in preparation for the 2025 season.
 
Not only do the Demons have a new head coach for the first time in 10 years, they welcome eight new players to the 13-player roster that include seven first-year freshmen and one redshirt freshman. 
 
"There's a whole lot of excitement but also a whole lot of unknowns," first-year head coach Ben Kaszeta said. "We really don't know who or what we are right now but that's kind of the fun part of it. We get to do something brand new. We get to build a new culture and the kids are embracing it."
 
Kaszeta, who spent this past season as an assistant with Lamar, came to Natchitoches in January of 2025, allowing him the chance to set a baseline with the handful of returners that make up the small group of experienced leaders on this year's team.
 
The long senior, Deja Benjamin, is coming off a career year in her first season as a Demon where she set a new career high in blocks with 117. She enters the season searching for her third straight 100-block season going back to her time at East Texas A&M.
 
"I feel great and ready to get out there and see what these girls have," Benjamin said. "We've been in the gym a little bit but today is going to be a lot of fun. I just want to be a leader out there. Making sure that the new girls are ok. It's their first year so making them feel welcome. They're going to be nervous so whatever I can do to be there for them."
 
Benjamin along with Samaya Wesson, Oliva Bush and Makenna Tryon, the only three returners with playing experience for the Demons, look to guide the group of young talent that will be asked to play big sets for the Demons in 2025.
 
"That's what these first few days are about, setting the standard. What are the pillars that we're going to stand on. What's our foundation," Kaszeta said. "We have a good group of returners. We've got some senior leaders in there that can set the tone pretty fast. So it's getting the new ones to understand that this is different and getting everyone on the same page."
 
While not a new face in the technical sense, Reagan Hamm, who was forced into a redshirt season a year ago following a late-summer injury, is part of the group of nine players that have yet to see action in an NSU jersey on this year's roster.
 
After becoming a cheerleader and supporter for the team a year ago, Hamm is understandably bursting with anticipation for the new season and opportunity to play.
 
"I am ecstatic," she said. "I woke up super early this morning because of how excited I was with that nervous excited energy. I cannot wait to get on the court. We've had our meetings and some other stuff today and I'm just ready to get on the court."
 
Ranked as one of the top setters in the state of Texas coming out of high school, Hamm's year away from the game has brought her a new perspective as well.
 
"Having to sit and watch my teammates play a whole year without me hurt," Hamm said. "There was definitely a lot of depression at the time. But I think I needed that struggle. God says that He takes you through valleys and brings you out of them. You don't realize the why until after the fact a lot of the time. The injury helped me to grow as a person and an athlete."
 
With a new season on the horizon and a long list of new hurdles for a first-year staff and first-year players, being open to new ideas and new thought processes is the goal for the new-look Demons.
 
"I want to see a bunch of kids open to new ideas, willing to try something different. I want to see courage," Kaszeta said. "It's hard to go in a do something you've never done before with people you've never worked with. So having the courage to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Having the courage to do something different is hard."