BEAUMONT – Winners of four its last five, the Lamar University volleyball team will end its tournament season the same place it started, at home in McDonald Gym. The 2015 campaign's final regular season tournament will be the Cardinal Classic and will feature Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Jackson State and Tulane.
 
The first match of the weekend will feature Tulane (3-5) and Jackson State (0-7) at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon, followed by Lamar (7-4) versus UTRGV (5-5) in the nightcap at seven o'clock. Lamar and Jackson State will open the second day at 10 o'clock, and UTRGV will play will play back-to-back matches against Tulane at 12:30 and Jackson State at 3:00.  The final match of the tournament will be Lamar against Tulane at 5:30.
 
Junior Chelsea Grant continues to lead the Cardinals with a 2.63 kills per set mark and a .415 hitting percentage, which ranks 36^th in the nation. She is also the team's leader in blocks at 1.33 a set. Both Cortney Moore and Tomar Thomas also average over two kills a set at 2.43 and 2.08, respectively.
 
As a team, the Cardinals lead the Southland Conference in hitting percentage and blocks, and ranks second in opponents hitting percentage.
 
Match Lineup:
Friday, Sept. 18
Match One: Tulane* vs. Jackson State (4 PM)
Match Two: Lamar* vs. UT-Rio Grande Valley (7 PM)
 
Saturday, Sept. 19
Match Three: Jackson State* vs. Lamar (10 AM)
Match Four: Tulane* vs. UT-Rio Grande Valley (12:30 PM)
Match Five: UT-Rio Grande Valley* vs. Jackson State (3 PM)
Match Six: Lamar* vs. Tulane (5:30)
*denotes home team
 
Coach Edwards' Thoughts:
"I've looked at some shot charts on (UT-Rio Grande Valley) and watched some film, although I'll watch some more tonight and tomorrow, and they are going to do some things that could cause us some issues," said Ewards. "They hit the ball pretty consistently to the right back. We went to their place last year.  They will have some athletic kids and will be able to run offense at us.  It will be a good challenge.
 
"Tulane is another Conference-USA school, and I think the top end of our league can be competitive there and that is our goal and where we want to get," he said. "I think it will be a pretty good measure for us.
 
"We need to be in system more than we have been, and we need to do a better job of handling the second ball when we're out of system and getting swings out of it.  That is where our focus is right now."
 
Team Notes:
- The Cardinals return home after playing eight matches on the road, the longest stretch away from McDonald Gym this season.
- During the span, the Cardinals played three matches on opposing floors and five neutral matches.
- The win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 12 was the first win on an opposition's court under head coach Alan Edwards.
- Also on Sept. 12 was the first five-set match the Cardinals have played in all season, ironically there were two played in that day (ULM, Louisiana Tech).  
- The Cardinal Classic is the second tournament Lamar hosts this season. The first was the Lamar Invitational in which LU went 3-0.
- Lamar hasn't seen seven wins through 11 contests since it was 8-3 in 2002. It has already topped the wins from all of last season (5) and tied the number of wins it had in 2013.
- LU hasn't boasted a winning September since 2009, and the last time it did not have a losing September was in 2012 when it went 6-6.  Of the four matches left in September, the Cardinals would need three to have a winning month.
- Chelsea Grant continues her hot start to the season after claiming her third all-tournament honor at the Louisiana Tech Invitational. She has been on an all-tournament team in every event this season.
- Grant ranks 13^th in the nation in total blocks, only nine blocks behind the national leader Mchela Ruclie, Hofstra (62).
- As a team, LU is 21^st in the country in total blocks.
- The Cardinals open up Southland Conference play at Sam Houston State on Sept. 25, it will be the final match of September.
 
Scouting the Vaqueros:
- UTRGV is out to a 5-5 start to the 2015 campaign with wins over Louisiana Tech, Southern and Texas Southern- all teams LU has taken on and defeated.
- Against Southland Conference schools, the Vaqueros are 0-5. They fell to Houston Baptist 3-0, Incarnate Word 3-0, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi three times.
- They return five letterwinners and two starters from last year's team.
- Bojana Mitrovic leads UTRGV with a 3.74 kill a set mark. She has 63 errors in 401 attempts and has a hitting percentage of .160.
- Defensively, Haley Durham averages 0.94 blocks a contest and Tina Sekulic has 3.00 digs a contest.
 
Scouting the Green Wave:
- Tulane is 3-5 this season with a 2-1 record against SLC programs. It defeated Incarnate Word and Nicholls, but lost to Sam Houston State.
- The Green Wave returned 10 letterwinners and five starters from last year's 5-27 campaign.
- Tea Juric is the top Tulane player with 3.67 kills per set and a .241 hitting percentage, she also leads the team with 3.59 digs per set average.  She is one of three players that average three or more digs a set.
 
Scouting the Tigers:
- Jackson State is winless in seven matches this season, which includes a loss to league-member Nicholls. They also fell to Louisiana Tech, who LU beat in its last tournament.
- Jackson State returned all six starters plus its libero and 11 letterwinners from last year's team.
- Taija Thomas has a 2.50 kills a set mark, leads JSU, and has a .173 hitting average.