EDINBURG, Texas - The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team continues its quest to secure a spot in the 2026 Southland Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon against the UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros at 1 p.m. in the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

The Demons (13-15, 5-8 SLC) enter Saturday holding the eighth and final spot for the tournament in the SLC standings with a one-game lead over the East Texas A&M Lions (10-16, 4-9 SLC) with just three matches remaining. The final two matches are, fittingly, against the Lions.

NSU is looking to bounce back Saturday after falling to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (9-15, 7-6 SLC) Thursday night on the road 3-1. The Demons were led by Amber Craig with 11 kills while Olivia Nzioki had 10 kills and five blocks. But it wasn't enough to help the Demons out of 2-0 hole in the match.

The Demons will face the Vaqueros (14-10, 10-3 SLC) for the second time this year as UTRGV defeated NSU 3-0 at Prather Coliseum back on Oct. 8. Ema Petkovic led the Vaqueros with 15 kills while Craig paced the Demons with 11 in the loss. UTRGV dropped a tough one Thursday night at home to East Texas A&M 15-12 in the fifth set. 

NSU is seeking to snap a six-game losing streak against UTRGV with their last victory coming Aug. 31, 2012 at a neutral site game 3-0 in Lubbock, Texas. The Demons have also lost nine straight sets to the Vaqueros.

The Demons are led by Elsie Sanchez with 3.38 kills per set while Jade Longlad's 896 assists and 9.33 a.p.s. is third in the conference.

The Vaqueros feature the top two offensive threats in the league as Petkovic leads the Southland in kills per set (3.68) while Martina Franco is right behind her at 3.66.

Fans can watch Saturday's match on ESPN+. Live stats will be available at NSUDemons.com while live updates can be found on twitter/X on the NSU volleyball page @NSUDemonsVB.