BEAUMONT – After suffering a 3-1 loss to Sam Houston State on Friday, head coach
Alan Edwards has focused in on one message for the season, compete. He will be looking for his team to "compete" on Thursday when the Lamar University Volleyball team returns home to open Southland Conference play at McDonald Gym when it welcomes rival McNeese State at 7 o'clock.
After the Cowgirls (4-11, 1-1 Southland Conference), the Cardinals (10-5, 0-1) will host Nicholls (5-9, 0-2) on Saturday at 1:00. In its last match, LU let a late third-game rally from the Bearkats grab all the momentum, which surged SHSU to the win.
"I think after the show we put on Friday, everybody comes in here with a little more confidence than if we had won," said Edwards. "You're talking about two teams that are good, competitive teams in McNeese and Nicholls.
"I like our chances against most anybody if we compete, but we have to compete," he said. "I feel like we have dropped several matches this season because we didn't compete. I'm tired of just being in matches, especially ones that we should be winning."
Sam Houston State started off the match with a set one win and 1-0 lead, mainly due to Lamar errors, but the Cardinals responded with a set two victory. With the momentum still in their favor, the Cards fought for a 21-19 lead in the third set, but that is where Sam Houston took over and finished off Big Red.
Lamar University will try and put that match behind them and return home to McDonald Gym, where it is a perfect 6-0 this season.
"Home is better, and we are a lot better at home," said Edwards. "That is a very comforting feeling on one hand, but on the other you still have to win this league by taking matches on the road."
Lamar and McNeese State have faced off 66 times in their histories, and the Cardinals were victors in 41 including 26 at home. Despite that, the Cowgirls have a 3-7 lead over Big Red in the last 10 contests and three wins in the last three matches.
"McNeese is going to be fast, athletic and much improved," said Edwards. "If we're not able to do a little more from the endline than what we have been, it could be a short day for us."
MSU is led offensively by Rae Myers with a 2.44 kills per set mark. She leads three other Cowgirls who boast 2.00 or better number.
Lamar has dominated the all-time series with Nicholls, but is only 6-4 in the last 10 matches against the Colonels. They are led by Kaci Eaton's 3.71 kills per set mark.
"I haven't really watched film on Nicholls much yet, but we saw them last fall and the spring before that. Tommy (Harold, head coach) does a nice job," said Edwards. "They are going to be well-coached and disciplined. They are going to play good defense and be big and strong. Due to their non-conference schedule, they are going to be well-seasoned."
The Cardinals are led offensively by
Chelsea Grant (2.69 kill per set, .415 hitting percentage) and
Cortney Moore (2.56, .362).
Tomar Thomas and
Autumn Taylor each boast kills per set numbers over 2.00. Grant also leads the team and the Southland Conference at 1.38 blocks per set and
Lauren Stahlman averages 4.04 digs a game.
Team Notes• LU secured its first winning September with a 7-5 record, first winning September since 2009.
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Cortney Moore is only 14 kills away from being the 19th member of LU's 1,000-kill club and 226 kills from notching a spot on the career list. She averaged 285 a season through the first three years of her career.
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Chelsea Grant is 26 blocks away from joining Lamar's career blocks list, she averages 127.5 a season. She is 218 away from claiming the top spot.
• The Lamar University volleyball team ranks nationally in the Top 100 in several categories: Aces/set (69), Blocks/set (64), Hitting percentage (89), Opp. hitting percentage (57), team total blocks (50).
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Chelsea Grant ranks 11th in the country with 76 total blocks, 23rd in blocks per set (1.38) and 24th with a .415 hitting percentage.
• The Cardinals hit the road for two-straight conference matches. They will head to Abilene Christian at 6:30 on Oct. 8 and Incarnate Word at 2:00 on Oct. 10.
Scouting McNeese State• McNeese State sits at 4-11 on the season overall and 1-1 in Southland Conference play. It suffered a 3-2 loss to Stephen F. Austin and downed Northwestern State 3-0.
• Rae Myers leads the Cowgirls with 2.44 kills a set, followed by Malina Sanchez at 2.25, Hailee Showers at 2.10 and Amber Fryer at 2.09.
• Graham Kelly is eighth in the league in assists (8.86).
• Bridget Justis leads the team in digs at a 3.95 per game clip and Monica Hudgins blocks at a 0.79 clip.
Scouting Nicholls• Nicholls holds a 5-9 overall record and 0-2 conference mark. The conference losses were 3-0 to both SFA and Northwestern State.
• The Colonels have two players that average over three kills a set, 3.71 from Kaci Eaton and 3.57 from Kayla Mashburn. Anna Niederhauser has a 2.81 kill per set average.
• Stephanie Tobison had a 3.31 digs per set average and Emily Weimer has a 0.55 blocks average.
