HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Looking to extend its four-match win streak and open one in Southland Conference play, the Lamar University volleyball team and reigning league defensive player of the week
Lauren Stahlman head to Sam Houston State take on the Bearkats at 6:30 in Johnson Coliseum.
Stalhman was chosen as the player of the week on Monday after she accounted for 57 digs (5.18 a set) and only one reception error in the Cardinals' (10-4, 0-0 Southland Conference) three-match sweep of the Cardinal Classic hosted in McDonald Gym. She, along with
Cortney Moore (MVP) and
Chelsea Grant, were picked added to the all-tournament team.
Grant is the team's offensive leader with 2.73 kills a set and a .423 hitting percentage. She also leads the team in blocks at 1.39 per set, and is fifth in the nation with 71 total blocks. Moore is hitting .367 with 2.49 kills a set, and Stahlman averages 4.02 digs a set.
The last time out, LU took down UT Rio Grande Valley (3-1), Jackson State (3-0) and Tulane (3-1) to win the Cardinal Classic. The last time LU had 10 wins through 14 matches was 2002 when it was 11-3. The Cardinals have not had 10 wins in a non-conference season since 2007.
"It is a clean slate for everyone, and we've spent the entire walking talking that it's a new season and what has happened to this point doesn't matter anymore," said head coach
Alan Edwards. "We're looking where our numbers stack up to other league teams because that is really all you can do right now.
"For the most part, everyone in our league played a similar cumulative schedule," he said. "We have to go on the road and play a really, really good Sam Houston team."
Lamar has the top hitting offense in the Southland Conference (.241) and ranks second in opponent hitting percentage (.167). Sam Houston ranks second in the league in kills per set (12.38) and third in opponent hitting percentage.
"(Sam Houston State) is going to be good on the outside. They have two very good left side hitter," said Edwards. "They can move the ball around and have good ball control. SHSU is a better team than it was last year."
The two programs have faced each other 69 times before, and the Beakats lead the series 45-24 and are 25-7 against the Cardinals in Huntsville. Last season, each team won on its home floor, and before that SHSU had a six-match win streak.
"We have our target set on winning enough matches to make it to the league tournament," he said. "That is the first goal."
The Cardinals return home on Oct. 1 to face SLC rival McNeese State in McDonald Gym and follow that with another home match, against Nicholls on Oct. 3.
Team notes• Lamar has not won four-straight matches since it took four in 2009, against North Texas, Sam Houston State, UT-Arlington and Texas State.
• The Cardinals have captured seven of their last eight.
• Lamar has not boasted a winning record in the month September since 2009, but the Cardinals locked that up with a three-win Cardinal Classic that moved them to 7-4 in the month.
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Chelsea Grant ran through non-conference play and tournament season capturing an all-tournament honor in every tournament, including MVP at the Lamar Invitational.
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Cortney Moore was the MVP of the Cardinal Classic, which closed out tourney season.
• Freshman
Tomar Thomas and juniors
Autumn Taylor and
Lauren Stahlman were also added to all-tournament teams during non-conference play.
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Chelsea Grant also ranks 30th in the country in hitting percentage and 22nd in blocks per set.
• As a team, LU is 15th in the country in total blocks.
• Moore is only 28 kills away from being the 19th member of LU's 1,000-kill club and 240 kills from notching a spot on the career list. She averaged 285 a season through the first three years of her career.
• Grant is 31 blocks away from joining Lamar's career blocks list, she averages 127.5 a season. She is 223 away from claiming the top spot.
• Ellis is 281 assists away from a spot on LU's career list. She has averages 636 through her career, but dished out 1033 alone last season.
Scouting Sam Houston • For both Sam Houston State and Lamar, Friday's match is the Southland Conference opener.
• Both programs have similar wins over Prairie View A&M and Tulane, and losses to Rice and Texas State.
• Brooke White and Jordyn Vaughn both average more than three kills a set. White has a .198 hitting percentage and Vaughn .133 percentage.
• Clarie Kilpatrick has a 4.46 digs per set mark and Shelby Genung has a 0.56 blocks per set average.
• As a team, the Bearkats are hitting at a .149 clip while allowing opponents to hit .178.
