Nov. 7, 2008
Box Score
BEAUMONT - The Lamar University volleyball team rebounded from a tough loss a week ago at UTSA with a 3-1 victory over league leader Texas State Friday night at McDonald Gym
The win places Lamar into a virtual tie for first place with Texas State, as both teams have two losses in Southland Conference play. Lamar improves to 10-2 in conference play and 12-9 overall with the win, while the Bobcats fall to 18-13 overall and 11-2 in SLC play.
Trailing 1-0 after a 27-25 loss in the opening set, the Lady Cardinals used an early run to jump out to a big lead in the second set. Tied at 4-4, Lamar used an 8-2 run to pull ahead 12-6 and opened the gap to as much as 11 points at 21-10 before Texas State could respond. A late rally by the Bobcats was not enough though, as LU tied the match with a 25-18 win. The Lady Cards hit just .185 in the second set, but their defense, which posted 4 blocks, held Texas State to a -.250 hitting percentage.
In the third set Lamar jumped out to an early three point lead a 4-1, but the two teams battled back and forth after Texas State tied it up at 6-6. Neither team held more than a one point advantage until the Bobcats grabbed a two point lead at 20-18 and put LU's back against the wall at 24-21.
Facing three match points the Lady Cards held off the Bobcats and refused to let the third set slip away. After back to back hitting errors by Emily Jones Wilkes and AJ Watlington, Lamar got a kill from Meagan Adams to tie the set a 24-24. Ashley Todd then ripped off a service ace to give Lamar a 25-24 advantage, and her tough serve on match point forced the Bobcats into another hitting error, giving LU a 26-24 win.
"Ashley Todd's serving won set three for us," Lamar head coach Justin Gibert said. "She came in off the bench and provided us with great serving and it proved to be the difference. We did some good things in that set, but Ashley put us over the top."
Holding onto a 2-1 lead the Lady Cards appeared as if they would coast to a fourth set victory when middle blocker Shalayne Blythe rattled off eight straight points at the service line to give Lamar a five point advantage at 18-13. The Bobcats however would not go away, getting back into the set with a run of their own to close the gap to 18-16.
The Bobcats battled back to within one point on several occasions, but Lamar never let the lead slip away as they answered every Texas State rally. The Lady Cards finally closed out the match with a kill by Blythe, giving Lamar a 26-24 win.
Lauren Holdorff led the way for Lamar, knocking down 13 kills with a .524 hitting percentage while Kaci Brewer posted a double-double with 13 kills and a match-high 19 digs. Meagan Adams was also solid with 10 kills and nine digs, while Adrianne Meengs passed out a match-high 45 assists. Blythe and Genevieve Gladle provided the bulk of Lamar's defense at the net, finishing with six blocks and five blocks respectively.
"Lauren (Holdorff) was absolutely amazing tonight," Gibert said. "She went up against two players that were bigger than her, and she put up dominant numbers. She really set the tone for our offense tonight. That might have been the best she's played all year considering who she was going up against.
"Kaci (Brewer) also had a fantastic match on both sides of the net. She gave us good offensive numbers and was outstanding defensively. I thought everybody stepped up and did their part to help us win tonight."
The Lady Cardinals will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host the Mavericks of UT-Arlington at 3 p.m. at McDonald Gym.
