Aug 30, 2013

Box Score

SAN MARCOS - After a tough start to the 2013 campaign on Friday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to Texas State, the Lamar women's volleyball improved in the evening match, falling in a tight 3-1 affair to Houston as day one of the Texas State Classic wrapped up at Strahan Coliseum.

Cortney Moore, the reigning Southland Conference Freshmen of the Year, stole the show offensively in the meeting vs. UH, racking up a team-best 13 kills with a .440 attack percentage, and fellow middle Chelsea Grant found similar success, posting seven kills and six blocks, including two of the solo variety.

Megan Schwartz starred in the backline, setting a new career high with 28 digs, the most recorded by Lady Cardinal in a match since 2007.

"Megan was the highlight today," head coach Justin Gibert said. "And really, both Erika Rojas and Lauren Stahlman were too. They were incredibly good on the defensive end. Chelsea came on strong in the middle defensively, and Cortney did well on offense. We just didn't have enough on the right or left side to win tonight."

After fighting off three separate match points only to drop the opening set in 28-26 fashion, the Red and White got rolling big time into the break with a late five-point surge to seal a 25-21 victory over the Cougars in the second. With the score tied at 16-16, Sierra Whittaker kick-started the attack with a kill. A Rojas service ace and trio of UH attack errors handed the Lady Cards an insurmountable lead en route to a 25-21 win.

Moore was the main offensive cog in the frame, recording six kills on nine swings as the LU out-hit UH .385 to .161.

The Cougars rallied following the intermission, however, taking home a 25-13 win in the third and holding on for a 25-21 victory in the fourth to end LU's opening day with an 0-2 record.

In the earlier match, Texas State ran out to early leads on the way to a 25-10, 25-16, 25-11 victory. A number of newcomers were pressed into heavy playing time due to injury concerns as both Whittaker and Beniece Douch sat out.

In all, eight first-time Lady Cards saw action on the court over the two matches, led by Grant's totals of 12 kills and six blocks for the day. Alexa Johnson played both at setter and handed out a combined 55 assists.

Lamar will return to play at the Texas State Classic on Saturday with meetings against SMU and Quinnipiac.

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