SAN ANTONIO — If there’s one thing Northwestern State has to offer after the fifth week of the 2022 season, it’s speed.
After a dramatic, potentially season-defining victory at the McNeese on Saturday afternoon, her fifth win in five-set matches this season, Lady Demon’s Carey paced up the west end of the Southland Conference for a rare Monday evening match.
NSU (9-5, 2-1) takes on UIW (1-11, 0-2) from the McDermott Center at 6 p.m. Live coverage links for the match are available at www.nsudemons.com or NSU Athletics Mobile. App, free download in Apple or Google stores.
With four straight wins to go into the match, and five of their last six, it’s easy to see from a pure numbers standpoint that NSU has gathered momentum over the past two weeks. Almost every important category has seen an increase in the average per set between the first eight matches and the last six. The last six matches averaged 17.8 digs per set, the biggest jump of almost four digs per set.
But the intangible momentum the Lady Demons earned on Saturday may be the most important factor for the rest of the season.
An almost entirely new group of court-bound players brought that comradeship on the court against McNeese, rallying for victory after a critical injury forced a new offensive system and players to rise to the occasion, Something he did with flying colors.
“I’m really proud of this group for deciding to fight for each other to get the win against the McNeese,” head coach Sean Kirakoffe Told. “It is one thing to rally in a set and win when there is an injury like incident.
“It’s going to be very difficult to sustain this for the rest of the match against a team like McNeese, who won a stunning five-set win during Thursday’s match. It’s a defining moment for this team when things would have been able to look back.” They’re not going to go their own way to show what they’re capable of.”
Each of the Lady Demons’ “there-for-you” approach to their teammates served them well against the Cowgirls. Just a day before their next match, tactical adjustments would need to be made quickly to go with the fellowship on the court.
“UIW is a team with a lot of physical talent that hasn’t consistently put it together this season,” Kirakofe said. “He has the potential to warrant his presidential pick of fifth, but has not yet been able to play at that level in the first few games of the conference season.”
Whatever route it takes to run the offensive, NSU still has two of the most dynamic outside hitters and two of the most solid middles in the conference.
braina burrell And Simone Wesley Has been making an average of about three kills per set in the last six matches reghan thompson And Jordan Gamble Both are attacking at a .248 or better clip during the same time, not to mention their skills on the defensive side, averaging just under a block in each set.
“We have a lot of work to do to figure out what we’re going to look like until Piper (Boydston) comes back from his injury,” Kirakoffe said. “Whether it’s Piper or Amina (Atra), we go very short at 5-1. Clearly, we managed it well during the McNeese match but it can be difficult to do it in the long run.”