Northwestern State’s female fall sports teams are chasing Southland Conference Tournament berths this week, beginning today as the soccer team wraps up the regular season at home and volleyball starts a two-match swing in south Texas.
SOCCER: Southland Conference Tournament seeding is on the line as Northwestern welcomes UTRGV to the Demon Soccer Complex this morning for the final game of the regular season.
It is an early kickoff, at 11 a.m., designed to accommodate school children who will attend.
The Demons are currently in fifth place in the SLC but could finish as high as the No. 3 seed. NSU has been a No. 4 seed or higher in each of the past seven seasons, a streak that dates back to 2019.
NSU (8-9, 5-4) aims to rebound from a loss to McNeese when it faces the last-place Vaqueros (4-11-2, 0-7-2), who will not be a part of next week’s SLC Tournament.
“They are playing with house money,” NSU coach Ian Brophy said. “If there is any pressure, it is on us. Obviously, we want to win the game and get further up the table and get the best seeding possible for the conference tournament.
“The hope is that we will go out and perform well. We know they are going to be dangerous because they can play care-free and just play their game. We know it’s not going to be an easy match and if we take it lightly, we’ll be in for a real tough afternoon.”
After a disheartening 3-1 loss last Sunday at McNeese, the Demons aim to right the ship at home, where NSU has been nearly unbeatable. In the last 15 contests in front of a friendly crowd, the Demons are 14-1-2, dating back to mid-October 2024. NSU has scored 38 of its 51 goals at home.
It is the final game at the Demon Soccer Complex for a pair of Northwestern standouts, forward Paige Baumgartner and midfielder Riley Stern.
Stern has recorded 17 assists in her career, which is fourth in program history, and is just a single assist out of third.
Baumgartner has been a strong offensive force for three seasons with NSU and is just five points out of the top 10 for career points with 47.
Following the game, NSU heads to the SLC Tournament, which begins Tuesday.
VOLLEYBALL: With just four regular season matches remaining, the Northwestern volleyball team starts the stretch run tonight at 6:30 p.m. to face the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at the Dugan Wellness Center in Corpus Christi – site of the Southland Conference Tournament later this month.
The Demons (13-14, 5-7 SLC) are looking to bounce back from a 3-0 loss at home to the UIW Cardinals (12-9, 10-2 SLC) this past Saturday. NSU enters the week tied for seventh place in the conference standings with Lamar (8-17, 5-7 SLC) who owns the tiebreaker over the Demons. The Islanders (8-15, 6-6 SLC) are tied for fifth place with McNeese (10-13, 6-6 SLC). The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 20-22.
“We’re in a pretty good place,” said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. “We’re working towards some good goals. But we’re still trying to maintain against some of the better teams in the league in each match. But I like the attitude and energy we have. Monday’s practice was awesome and we’re attacking things with good energy and a good mindset.”
Northwestern will travel to near the USA-Mexico border for a Saturday match at UT-Rio Grande Valley, then comes home for a season-ending home-and-home series against East Texas A&M, beginning next Thursday in Prather Coliseum.