Northwestern State had two players chosen for the annual Southland Conference Preseason Volleyball team, the league office announced on Thursday.
Junior middle blocker Reaghan Thompson was an automatic selection to the first-team squad following her all-conference sophomore campaign in 2023. Senior outside hitter Teresa Garza was voted to the second-team, earning one of the six available spots that were voted on by the league’s coaches and sports information directors.
Released along the preseason teams was the 2024 Preseason Poll with the Demons picked seventh in the new 12-team league. Southland returner Stephen F. Austin and newcomer UTRGV were picked first and second with 17 and three first-place votes respectively. Reigning two-time champion Southeastern was picked third just behind UTRGV.
Thompson, who earned her second straight preseason all-conference honor, enjoyed a record-breaking season in 2023.
She set the new top mark for blocks in a single season with 164 and established a new per set average for blocks at more than 1.5 per set. She fell just six rejections shy of setting a new Southland Conference record for blocks during the rally scoring era. She was the second player to ever record 100 blocks in a season solely against conference opponents.
Thompson led the conference in blocks and blocks per set for the second consecutive season, became the fastest player in NSU history to reach both the 200 and 300 block milestones for a career and now owns six of the top 12 best single-match block totals in program history. She tied the school record with 13 blocks against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 26 of last season and also had 12 blocks in a three-set match against Southeastern.
Her elite performance on the court alongside her equally as exemplary work in the classroom earned her the Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year award for 2023.
She maintained a 3.93 GPA in Northwestern’s top-rated nursing program in the state of Louisiana becoming the first NSU volleyball player to be named the conference’s student-athlete of the year.
Entering her junior season, Thompson ranks fourth all-time at NSU in career blocks with 312, needing just 18 to move into second place behind Glynna Johnson’s school-record 485.
One of the top all-around volleyball players in the conference, Teresa Garza earned a spot on the preseason all-conference squad following a special first year in Purple and White.
The transfer from Wyoming, turned in one of four 300 kill-300 dig seasons in the Southland a year ago and was the sixth NSU player to ever reach the 300 mark in both categories in a single year.
Garza’s 378 was the most by an outside hitter in the Southland last year and her 75 blocks was by far the most by an outside. She ranked in the top 10 in the league alongside the liberos in digs per set at 3.47 while also ranking in the top 10 in points per set at 3.37.
Garza turned in 16 double-digit kill matches and 21 double-digit dig matches with 12 total kill-dig double-doubles.
She set her career high with 19 kills in the win against Southeastern on Sept. 14 and matched it two weeks later against Lamar. In the conference tournament match against A&M-Commerce, Garza hit a career-best .394 with 15 kills and only two errors on 33 total swings, adding 10 digs and a pair of blocks in the straight set win over the Lions.
Thompson, Garza and the Demons host Louisiana Tech in an exhibition match on Friday, Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. in Prather Coliseum. They open the 2024 regular season on the road at the Southern Miss Invitational on Aug. 30 at 2 p.m. against the Golden Eagles.
