NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Northwestern State Demons' volleyball team goes back on the road when they play in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Tournament hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, Missouri Friday and Saturday.

The Demons (1-3) will take on Indiana State (2-1) Friday morning at 10 a.m. NSU will then face host team Missouri State (1-2) Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Demons will wrap up the tournament on Saturday at noon when they face Little Rock (3-0).

NSU is coming off a loss on the road Tuesday night to the ULM Warhawks 3-0. However, Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta continues to see the improvements being made.

"I think the effort was awesome," said Kaszeta. "But our emotions were all over the place for whatever reason and our practice was bad. But we came out and played better than I thought we were going to but just never settled in."

While the Demons continue to try to find their way collectively, senior Jade Longlad and sophomore Emmarie McFarland are doing their parts through the first four games.
Longlad, out of Calgary,Alberta, Canada, leads the Southland in assists per set at 9.6 while McFarland leads the league in digs with 63.

"Those two have been really good," said Kaszeta. "But volleyball is not a one-or-two-person sport so yes, those two give us a great foundation but we have to keep building around them to get to the point we need to be in."

As for the weekend, the Demons will be looking to take a step forward with their pregame planning.

"This will be the first time we really have more of an in-depth detailed report on opponents," said Kaszeta. "Now that everyone has played a few times, we can look at what each opponent does to better prepare us for the weekend and what we need to do to beat that particular opponent."

As for the travel plans, it's going to be another long haul for the Demons. NSU will travel 452 miles and eight hours to Springfield Thursday morning before preparing for the three games this weekend.

Fans can follow the Indiana State and Little Rock matches via live stats. The Missouri State contest will be available on ESPN+. Fans can also follow all three matches on the NSU volleyball twitter page @NSUDemonsVB.