BEAUMONT – For the first time since 2011, the Lamar University Volleyball team will open its season in McDonald Gym when the Cardinals start the 2015 campaign on Friday with the Lamar Invitational, which features Texas Southern, UAB and Marist College.
 
The Cardinals host TSU in the event's first match at 10 o'clock Friday morning.  After that match is over, Marist and UAB will play at 1:00 and Marist versus TSU at 4 o'clock. The final match Friday will be Lamar against UAB at 7 o'clock.
 
UAB and Texas Southern get Saturday kicked off at 10 a.m. and the tourney finale will be LU against Marist.  All three teams will have three matches in two days.
 
"We're excited about this weekend, and it should be a pretty good opening weekend for us," said head coach Aland Edwards, who opens the second season at the helm. "We saw Texas Southern last spring and think we know what they'll bring at us."
 
LU has played TSU nine times before and Lamar has won every match, but the two have not faced off since the 2011 season- also in a season-opening tournament in McDonald Gym.
 
The Tigers are coming off of a 12-18 2014 season, but went 7-1 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.  They were eliminated in the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament.  TSU does return 14 players from last year's team, including Kali Fluke who was named as the conference's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
 
Fluke averaged 2.77 kills per set last season with a hitting percentage of .302.  
 
"They'll be pretty athletic and fast, and they will be able to challenge our block.  It will be a good early test and test our knowledge of our system," said Edwards.
 
UAB returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last season's 8-24, 4-12 Conference-USA, campaign, including Gabby Deshotel, Amber Treace and Emma Schroer. Deshotel averaged 2.28 kills a set a season ago in 113 sets.  Treace accounted for 784 assists last season with an average of 8.34 a game and Schroer averaged 2.63 digs a set in 2014.
 
"UAB is a program I'm pretty familiar with because most of my career has been in the southeast, and I know those coaches," said Edwards. "They are going to be really well coached."
 
LU and UAB have squared off five times, and the Cards hold a 4-1 advantage.  Only once have the Blazers take the McDonald Gym floor, in 1987.
 
Marist opens its season with a new head coach at the helm and is coming off one of its most successful seasons in program history. Both Amanda Schlegel and Courtney Shaw were named as the MAAC's Preseason C0-Players of the Year, and the Red Foxes were picked to finish fourth in their league.
 
Last season, MC won the 2014 MAAC regular season championship and advanced to the league tournament championship.  It set program records for wins and conference wins after a 25-6- 15-3 MAAC- season.
 
"I don't know a whole lot about what they are going to have," said Edwards.  "That is a team that played in the conference final last year.  They graduated some, but they have a gym full kids that are used to being successful."
 
Schlegel was also the league's setter of the year after her 1,172 assist count took second in the league and third most in program history.  She was also dominant server with 53 service aces notched.  Shaw was the team's leader in kills (316) and accumulated double-digit kills in the final six matches.
 
"I think the weekend will be a good test for us. Opening up at home is certainly a lot nicer than having to go on the road," said Edwards.  "The kids get to be in class, sleep in their own beds and eat the food that they're used to.   We're excited to kick off season especially after what we've seen in our gym."
 
Last season the Cardinals did not play at home until the 13^th match of the season, also the Southland Conference opener.
 
"I am confident we're better. We're more athletic and have a higher level of volleyball being played in our gym than we have since I got here, but you don't ever know until you put the car on the track and see what you can do," said Edwards.
 
Lamar returns first-team preseason All-Southland Conference preseason picks Cortney Moore and Chelsea Grant, both middle blockers. As a whole, the team returns 12 players from last year's team and welcomes seven newcomers.
 
Grant was the Southland Conference's leading blocker last season with 1.28 blocks per set, and was tied for fourth in total blocks (103). The Houston native ranked 41^st in blocks per set. She averaged 2.30 kills and 1.28 blocks per set.  Moore was the league's second-leading hitter in terms of percentage (.331) and ranked eighth in kills per set. (3.37). She was the team's best in kills (347) and hitting percentage and ranked second in blocks and blocks per set.
 
LU also returns its setter from last season in Ashley Ellis, who averaged 10.23 assists and 1.82 digs per set. On the outside, key returners Autumn Taylor and Amy Hollowell are back. Taylor averaged 3.71 kills a set last season and Hollowell chimed in at 2.31 per set.
 
"I want to see a better knowledge of the system and a little more composure than we had last year," said Edwards. "In terms of tangible things, we have to be better in the serve receive game.  We gave up far too many service aces and way too many service errors. We've put a lot of emphasis on that. 
 
"Going into the first weekend that is going to be a key point," he said. "We're also going to be looking at offensive efficiency numbers and kills per set, expecting outside hitter to produce a little more than they did last season."
 
Since 1980, LU has not fared well in season openers sitting at 11-23, but since 1983 the Cardinals are 19-12 in home openers.
 
The Lamar Invitational is one of two tournaments hosted in McDonald Gym this season, the second is scheduled for Sept. 18-19. After the opener, LU will travel to Rice on Tuesday for a 6 o'clock first serve before heading to Texas State for the Delta Zeta Classic.