BEAUMONT – After suffering its first loss at home last time out, the Lamar University volleyball team will try to end its four-match homestand on a high note when Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin visit McDonald Gym for Southland Conference action. Thursday's match will be against NSU at 7 o'clock and the Ladyjacks will take on LU at 1 o'clock Saturday.
 
Thursday's contest is also the annual "Dig Pink" match in which fans are encouraged to wear pink to support the fight against breast cancer. Sunday's match is camper reunion day, and any camper who wears their camp T-shirt to the match will get in free of charge.
 
The Cardinals (13-8, 3-4 Southland Conference) opened the homestand with an emotional 3-2 win over Sam Houston State, which pushed their season home record to 9-0, but two days later they fell to Central Arkansas in straight-sets. By the time play opens against Northwestern State (5-18, 3-7), Lamar will have had six days of rest.
 
"I don't like to talk about must-win situations, but if you're going to have one then I would consider Thursday one. We're going to do what we like to do to prepare," said head coach Alan Edwards. "It's still about the long haul here, and it's still about program building. Preparing for Northwestern State on Thursday is a piece of that.
 
"Right now it is about match preparation," he said. "We'll add a little bit to what we've been doing there because we have some kids who are ready to handle that. It is one of the places that we are a little weak."
 
The Lady Demons enter the match as winners in their last three contests, including a 3-0 victory over Saturday's opponent, Stephen F. Austin (14-11, 6-3). With their 3-7 league record, they sit one spot out of the Southland Conference tournament, right behind Lamar.
 
"One of the things I love about coaching in this league is that on Thursday at 7 o'clock, you can throw out everybody's record," said Edwards. "On Thursday at 7 o'clock, it's about Thursday at 7 o'clock, and it's like that in every gym in our conference. Every day in our league, it's about that day."
 
Like she has all season, junior Chelsea Grant continues to lead the team offensively with a 2.82 kills per set mark and defensively with 1.33 blocks a set. Her blocks mark also leads the Southland Conference along with her .390 hitting percentage.
 
Two other Cardinals have two or more kills a set. Cortney Moore chimes in with 2.77, Autumn Taylor at 2.41. Since going to a one-setter system, Haley Morton has taken a team-lead in assists at 6.54 a set and Lauren Stahlman averages 4.22 digs a game, which ranks fourth in the Southland Conference.
 
SERIES NUMBERS
• The match-ups against Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin are the first of the season for the programs.  It is the only contest that pits LU against NSU, but the Cards will return the trip to SFA on Nov. 7th at 1 o'clock.
• Lamar will try to snap losing streaks to both NSU (lost last four) and SFA (lost last five).
• All-time against the Demons, LU leads 23-9 and is 12-4 against them at home. SFA holds a 27-22 all-time advantage, but the Cardinals are up 13-11 in Beaumont.
 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE
• The Lady Demons enter the match with a 5-18 record overall and 3-7 conference mark. Two of their three wins in Southland Conference play have been in the last three matches, including a 3-0 decision over Saturday's opponent SFA. 
• Other wins NSU has are over New Orleans and Nicholls.
• Lauren Agan is the Lady Demons' top hitter at 2.75 kills per set on a .128 hitting percentage.  Gylnna Johnson boasts the team's top hitting percentage (.378) and has a 1.77 kills per set mark. Caiti O'Connell, who recently notched her 1000th kill, has a 1.74 kills per game mark.
• Johnson's hitting percentage mark ranks third in the league, and setter Natalie Jaeger's 38 service aces number is second. As a team, NSU ranks third in the Southland Conference with a 1.60 aces per set mark.
• Jaeger is the team's leading assister at 5.56 a game and Bailey Martin leads in digs at 3.39.
 
Edwards' thoughts on NSU:
"They are going to play hard. That is true for everybody to this point and is fighting for a spot.  Hopefully McDonald Gym will make difference and provide a spark for us. They are going to play hard, play good in the middle and serve bullets at you. It's going to be a big night for our libero and a big night for our outside hitters in terms of how they will handle the ball in serve receive."
 
SCOUTING STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
• Stephen F. Austin sits third in the Southland Conference with a 6-3 league mark and 14-11 overall. It started of the league season with a four-match win streak, but fell to conference leader Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Since, the Ladyjacks have won two of their last four.
• The Jacks have four players with two or more kills a game, led by Justice Walker's 2.63.  Jacque Allen has a 2.49 kills mark followed by Tori Bates (2.09) and Abby McIntyre (2.35).
• OJ Olson, who is nearing the 2,000 digs mark, leads the team with 5.21 digs a set. Both Shannon Connell and Brewer McKenzie have high assists numbers, at 9.36 and 8.05 a set, respectively. 
 
Edward's thoughts on SFA:
"It's the only time we match up with football at home this year, so it should be a fun day.  We knew coming into the year there were three things we wanted to do. We wanted to better last year's win total, qualify for the conference tournament and wanted to get a signature win for where we are at the point, and a win against SFA would help with the last. It would give us a chance to have a match to hang our hats on.  We have to learn to play with the teams in the upper echelon of our league we want to be a part of that.  I like our chances against those guys, I think we could match