STARKVILLE, Miss. – One goal for the Cardinals this season is to improve play while on the road, and that chance comes right out of the blocks when the 2016 edition of the Lamar University volleyball team opens its new campaign against stout competition in the Bulldog Invitational at Mississippi State on Friday and Saturday.
 
The first match of the new season will be Friday against Eastern Washington at 5 p.m., and the final two contests of the tournament will be against the host Bulldogs at noon and Final Four competitor No. 5 Kansas at 5 p.m. Saturday. The matchup against State will be broadcast on SEC Network+, which can been seen at WatchESPN.com or on the WatchESPN app on Apple or android devices.
 
"Going into this weekend we'll be able to see who we are," said head coach Alan Edwards, who opens his third season as the leader of the Cardinal program. "We have struggled on the road in the past, and really we've struggled on the road in places that we shouldn't.
 
"We have to go learn how to play on the road, and Starkville will provide a good chance for us to teach how to play in a different environments against quality teams," he said. "Facing tough teams right out of the gate is what I wanted."
 
At the start of last season, LU looked at a six-match loss streak in season openers, but snapped that with a 3-1 win over Texas Southern. This season they look to break a string of five opening matches lost away from McDonald Gym.
 
The Cardinals have never faced Eastern Washington or Kansas, but both are familiar with Southland Conference schools. The combined to go 3-0 last season against SLC programs, and KU will take on Southeastern Louisiana later this year.
 
"Kansas is a top 10 team this season and had great success last year," said Edwards. "Eastern Washington will be big, athletic and physical."
 
Last season, the Jayhawks went 30-3 and 14-2 in Big 12 play, and return Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Kelsie Payne, a right side hitter. The junior was an AVCA First-team All-American and set Kansas records with 496 kills and a .386 attack percentage.
 
She was joined as an All-American by junior setter Ainise Havili and senior libero Cassie Wait. Havili averaged 12.13 assists and 0.27 aces per set and Wait had 5.19 kids a set a year ago.
 
Eastern Washington was 14-14 on the year and 9-7 in Big Sky play in 2015. The Eagles have only one senior, setter Sophie Miller – who played on the right side last season. They return 11 players from last season's team and welcome four newcomers.
 
The history with the Bulldogs goes deeper than just three matches between the two programs, but the person walking the Bulldog sideline is a former head coach in the Southland Conference. David McFatrich enters his second season at State and spent four seasons before that as the leader at Central Arkansas.
 
As a program, the Cardinals are 0-3 against Mississippi State and 1-6 against McFatrich-led teams. The last time the two programs squared off was in 2011 at McDonald Gym.
 
MSU returns 10 letterwinners from last year and welcome four newcomers. Top hitter Evie Grace Singleton returns after a 2015 campaign that had her with 3.53 kills and 1.78 digs per set. Also back is the State setter, Blossom Sato, who averaged 8.63 assists and 1.67 digs per set.
 
"Mississippi State will be a tough test as well," said Edwards. "That's an SEC program and now they've had a full year to get their system in."
 
Lamar returns all but two of its starters from last season, and added one newcomer to the 2016 squad. Edwards and his staff decided to move first-team All-Southland Conference selection Chelsea Grant from the middle to the left side pin in hopes to open the offense this season.
 
"In volleyball you win and lose on the left, the offense has to come from the left and right pins," he said. "Most games will be determined by what you can do while you are out of system, and last year when we were out of system we couldn't get the ball to the best athletes in our gym. We gave Chelsea some working reps on the left in the spring and it looked promising."
 
Last year, Grant ranked third in the league with a .352 hitting percentage and was second in the league at 1.25 blocks per set.
 
LU looks to keep its 6-2 system moving forward, and both setters in Haley Morton and Ashley Ellis return. Morton ranked sixth in the league in assists (6.83 per set) and Ellis averaged 4.52 a set.
 
LU is opening the season with five straight weeks away, 14 matches, from McDonald Gym, which was all a part of Edwards' plan.  The Cardinals have eight matches in the friendly confines of McDonald Gym, all on their quest to get to the SLC Tournament for the first time since 2011.