BEAUMONT – The perfect record remained intact at McDonald Gym after the Lamar University volleyball team swept the day with a 3-0 win (25-10, 25-19, 25-16)  over Jackson State Saturday morning and a 3-1 win (25-22, 25-23, 14-25, 26-24) over Tulane in the nightcap, which gave the Cardinals the championship from the Cardinal Classic, second tournament win this season.
 
Lamar (10-4) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match against Tulane (5-6), but the Green Wave mounted a comeback in the third set and made forced the Cardinals to make plays in the fourth set. Neither team ever took a lead bigger that three in the fourth set (10-7, TU), but once it was tied at 13-13, it was boxing match and both teams continued to force sideouts and never allowed a run of more than two.  
 
"(The fourth set) is the mark of this team right now.  I told them after we finished that the talent level for us to be really, really good is there, and the only question I had is how we would face adversity," said head coach Alan Edwards. "The look in their eye is different now.  There is a lot more grit and a lot more fight.  We're never out of it even when there is adversity and we struggle a little bit."
 
After a service error that gave the Green Wave a 21-20 lead, the Cardinals called a timeout. Out of the break, Autumn Taylor and Cortney Moore stuffed Tea Juric to tie it up at 21-21.  Moore's tough play down the stretch turned her already fabulous weekend into a tournament most valuable player nod, and she was joined by all-tournament teammates Chelsea Grant and Lauren Stahlman.
 
For the tournament, Grant and Moore led all players with .448 and .407 hitting percentages, respectively. Moore averaged 2.56 kills a set and both Taylor and Grant averaged 3.09 a set.  Lauren Stahlman was dominant at the libero position with a 5.18 digs per set mark, the next closest player to her was Tulane's Lisa Mordell (3.09).  She only accounted for one reception error through all 11 sets played.
 
At 21-21, Juric and Moore went back-to-back in kills, and an attack error by Tulane's Sarah Ray and block from Aubrey Folk and Annie Shurtz tied it at 23-23.  Grant drove home a kill followed by a service error that made it 24-24.   From there Grant took over and pushed it to 25-24 with a kill and the blocked Ray, assisted by Ivette Dim, to lock up the match and tourney championship.
 
"We knew to compete with (Tulane) we were going to have to serve tough and make their game predictable, and we didn't do a great job with that," said Edwards. "That is a huge step in our growth because this year's team can rebound from the adversity."
 
Service errors were the thorn in Lamar's side in the match, and it all started with the first set when they missed on seven serves.  For the entire match, Big Red had a season-high 18 miscues. Along with the service errors, LU took seven reception errors, but also accounted for six service aces.
 
"That is what we preached all preseason long, we have to be better there to be successful," said Edwards.
 
Taylor led the Cardinals and tied Juric to lead all players with 13 kills in the match.  Grant and Moore each had 12 and had plus-.400 hitting percentages.
 
The Cardinals' offense was smothering against Jackson State and finished with a season-high .422 team hitting percentage, and the 47 kills were the most they had in a three-set match this season.
 
Lamar was almost perfect in the first set of the match with only one error, a service error. It finished with 15 kills and a .625 hitting percentage, led by Chelsea Grant's six kills and two blocks. In the set, LU had a four-, five- and six-point run.  Defensively in the match, the squad was just as good holding the Tigers to a .080 hitting percentage and seven blocks, and was tough on the endlines with eight service aces.
 
For both matches combined, Grant had 24 kills, a .559 hitting percentage and 11 total blocks. Taylor accounted for 24 kills and Moore 20 for the day.
 
The win gave the Cards a 10-4 record in non-conference games this season and 10 wins in the first 14 matches for the first time since LU was 11-3 in 2002. They tied the total number of wins the 2012 team had its entire season and doubled the wins it had a year ago.  
 
Lamar is perfect at home (6-0) after winning both of the tournaments hosted in McDonald Gym.  The first tourney featured wins of Marist, UAB and Texas Southern. LU defeated UT-Rio Grande Valley on Friday, 3-1.
 
Southland Conference play opens on Friday when the Cardinals head to Sam Houston State, followed by home matches against McNeese State (Oct. 1) and Nicholls (Oct. 3).