NATCHITOCHES, Louisiana – The Huskies battle the Lady Demons at Prather Coliseum on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for the fourth position in the conference standings with four games left in Southland play.

HCU and Northwestern State are tied in the SLC standings at 9-5, four games back of Southeastern and TAMUCC at 13-1 and two games back of McNeese at 11-3. The Huskies swept the Lady Demons in the first conference matchup early this season in Sharp Gym and haven't dropped a match to NSU in over two years. HCU is 13-3 against Northwestern State since 2015 and has won the last five matchups with a 15-2 set differential. The Huskies are also 4-2 in Prather Coliseum since 2015 with a 13-11 set differential.  

The Huskies (14-12, 9-5 SLC) continue to hold a top-10 ranking in the NCAA Division 1 volleyball rankings leading the conference in digs per set averaging 17.10 and total team digs on the season with 1,607 digs. HCU's defense is led by Kaley Feris averaging 4.16 digs per set and Audrey Pearce ranking 2^nd in the Southland averaging 1.14 blocks per set with a total of 107 blocks on the year. The Husky' offense leads the conference in total attacks on the season with 903 attacks led by Cassidy Drapela averaging 9.82 attacks per set. Sara Arroyo cracks the top-10 in the SLC, ranking 9^th, averaging 2.98 kills per set while Pearce ranks 6^th in the conference with 327.5 total points on the season. Grace McLaughlin ranks 3^rd in the conference averaging 9.85 assists per set.

Northwestern State (13-12, 9-5, SLC) is led by their 18^th nationally ranked defense averaging 2.67 blocks per set led by the 7^th nationally ranked player in blocks per set, Reaghan Thompson, averaging 1.49 blocks per set. The Lady Demons rank fourth in the Southland averaging 16.33 digs per set led by Ashlyn Svoboda averaging 4.34 digs per set. Teresa Garza leads NSU scoring averaging 2.73 kills per set while Piper Boydstun dishes out an average of 4.73 assists per set.

The Huskies will continue back-to-back road matchups taking on Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Field House in Commerce, Texas. HCU remains undefeated against the Lions winning all three matchups since Commerce joined the Southland last season. The Huskies swept the Lions in the first conference matchup of the season in Sharp Gym.

Texas A&M-Commerce (9-18, 5-9 SLC) is led by Kitana Tuufuli averaging 2.73 kills per set while Essence Allen averages 2.21 kills per set. Breann Connally is dishing out an average of 5.58 assists per set and Jade Smith leads the Lion's defense averaging 4.81 digs per set.

Live broadcast for both matches is available on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at HCUHuskies.com!