NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team returns home Wednesday night to face the Lamar Cardinals in Southland Conference play at 6:30 p.m. in Prather Coliseum.

The Demons (12-11, 4-4 SLC) split two road games last week at Nicholls (9-12, 2-6 SLC) where NSU hit .311 to roll to a 3-0 win. But the Demons lost to McNeese (8-11, 4-4 SLC) 3-0 this past Saturday as NSU hit just .080 for the match with 23 kills.

"We were on against Nicholls," said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. "We kept them off balance and dominated the match. But then on the opposite end of the spectrum was McNeese. They played incredibly. They had a game plan against us that fit us to the T. They found a way to exploit the three or four weaknesses we have, and they exploited every single one of them. And when we adjusted, they made another adjustment to keep us off balance. But we'll learn from that one and simply tip our hat to a well-executed game by McNeese"

NSU enters Wednesday's contest against Lamar (6-15, 3-5 SLC) with a 4-2 record at home this season at the halfway point of the Southland schedule. The Demons have two Southland wins over LSU New Orleans (2-19, 0-8 SLC) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (6-13, 4-4 SLC) in the friendly confines of Prather Coliseum.

"I think we've gotten better each match through the first half of league play," said Kaszeta. "I love where this group is at right now. We're still learning how to get to the point we want to get to but it's getting there. This league shows that anybody can beat anyone on any given day. We've proven that and so have others."

NSU is led offensively by Elsie Sanchez with 3.37 kills per set which is fifth in the conference. Senior Jade Longlad continues to run the offense well for the Demons as she is averaging 9.39 assists per set, second in the league behind UT-Rio Grande Valley's Lana Rnjak's 9.58 aps.

Defensively, NSU's Emmarie McFarland continues her consistent play with 10 or more digs in 21 of 23 matches. The sophomore is averaging 4.62 digs per set, fourth in the SLC.

The Cardinals also split last week with a win over A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-1, on the road. Then, lost Saturday in straight sets to UTRGV (12-7, 8-0 SLC).

Lamar is led by Maja Malinowska on the offensive side. The junior from Poland is averaging 3.50 kills per set which is second in the league behind UTRGV's Ema Petkovic (3.68). Alexa Gonzalez and Katelyn Hughes split time as the Cardinals' setters with Gonzalez averaging 5.16 assists per set and Hughes at 4.82 aps.

On the defensive side, Gabby Baker is fifth in the league with 4.56 digs per set, right behind McFarland.

"Lamar has two hitter that are extraordinary," said Kaszeta. Malinowska is fabulous. She's won a couple of awards; she's an All-Southland player. She just does all the things it takes to win and is someone that can win a game by herself. And then they have another one, Nessa Martinez, who is super dynamic. The entire team is starting to put it together and with Martinez and Malinowska leading the way, they could be a problem for the whole league."

Historically, the Cardinals lead the all-time series over the Demons 26-20 and have won the last two matches in straight sets. However, NSU has won seven of the last 10 including four of the last five at Prather Coliseum.

Fans can watch Wednesday's match on ESPN+ as Patrick Netherton and Caley Carter will have the call. Live stats will be available at NSUDemons.com while live updates can be found on twitter/X on the NSU volleyball page @NSUDemonsVB.