Match 1 | Match 2

HOUSTON –  A slow start gave the Lamar University volleyball team a tall order it almost overcame, but fell just short in a 3-2 loss (15-25, 15-25, 25-23, 25-20, 13-15) to Texas Southern in the Houston Cougar Classic at Yeoman Field House Friday morning.
 
Already down 2-0 after the second set, the Cardinals (0-4) battled from being down in the third to grab a 23-22 lead to try and keep the match alive. Nia Stone recorded a kill to tie it back at 23-23, but back-to-back kills from left-side hitter Chelsea Grant won it and pushed it to the fourth.
 
The fourth set was completely different for the Cardinals, who to that point had spent most of the match trying to come from behind. Both teams went back and forth and neither could secure a run longer than two. At 12-12, Tomar Thomas smashed one to the court followed by another kill from Grant to make it 14-12, Lamar's lead.
 
That lead would grow to 16-12 with an attack error from Alexis Johnson and an ace to Kelly Crow. Lamar would go on to win the set by forcing Texas Southern into seven errors and kills from Nicole Parish and Tomar Thomas.
 
The fifth set was action-packed, but resembled the match as a whole. A slow start allowed Texas Southern to gain a lead that the Cardinals came close to erasing, but couldn't do it.
 
An attack error gave TSU (2-3) a 10-6 lead, but kills from Grant cut it to 10-8. A service error from Ashley Ellis pushed the game to 11-8, but Grant cut it to two again with a kill. After attack error exchanges from each team, Alexis Austin registered a kill to give the Tigers a 13-10 lead. Stone and Kali Fluke teamed for a block on Hlavac to get it to 14-10, which is when the Cardinals tried to mount their comeback.
 
Ivette Dim earned a kill, and a long volley that resulted in a Stone's attack error made it 14-12. Hlavac chimed into to make it 14-13, but Thomas just missed an outside shot and gave the Tigers its second win of the year.
 
Grant led the way for all players with 19 kills, well above her kills per set mark heading into the match, 2.82. Hlavac had 13 kills followed by Thomas with 12. Fluke and Austin tied each other for the Tigers' lead at 10 apiece.
 
Allison Woods had a match high 16 digs, and she was followed by Nicole Parish and Hlavac with nine – both led the Cardinals. LU's Ellis finished with the most assists she's had since 2014; she picked up 45 saves – also the match leader.
 
The first game was neck-and-neck until the Tigers ran off five-straight points that turned a one-point deficit into a 16-12 advantage. The run was broken on a service error by Asia Howard, but TSU was able to reel off three more points a kill and two LU attack errors to make it 19-13.
 
The Cardinals tried to put that behind them in the second set when kills from Hlavac and Chelsea along with an attack error from TSU's Cassidy Jannson made it 3-0, but TSU battle back to tie it at 3-3 with two kills of their own and a block.
 
The set was eventually tied at 4-4, but Texas Southern built it to a 7-4 lead with two blocks and another attack error from Lamar. The Cardinals would get it back to a two-point deficit twice (7-5, 8-6), but that would be the closest they would get.
 
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In the second match of the day, offensive efficiency led Idaho State to take down the Cardinals in straight sets (23-25, 24-26, 22-25) in the middle of three matches that LU will play in the Cougar Classic.
 
The Bengals (2-3) hit .316 in the match, including a best of .419 in the clinching set. They had 16 kills to only three errors in 31 attempts in that game. The Cardinals hit .260, led by Thomas at .556 with 11 kills. She only trailed Grant for the team-lead in kills. Grant notched her fourth-straight match with double-figure kills with 14.
 
The first game was tied at 22-22, and the Cardinals grabbed a 23-22 lead on a kill by Halvac, but three-straight points on two kills from Chloe Hirst and a duo block from Marrissa Todd and Taeja Davis ended it. The second set was tied at 24-24, but a block from Brooke Pehrson and Hayley Farrer made it 25-24 before a service ace ended it at 26-24.
 
The Bengals were able to run away with the third set after a block from Jensen and Pehrson broke a 10-10 tie and secured the lead for the rest of that set. ISU was able to get the lead to as big as six at 20-14.
 
Hirst had a match-high 15 kills, followed by 11 from ISU's Jensen and Todd. Hirst was able to rack up a .500 attack percentage on 16 kills in 26 attacks with just two errors. ISU's Farrer had 35 assists in the contest, one more than LU's Ashley Ellis at 34.
 
Lamar takes on the host Cougars Saturday afternoon at 12:30 to end their trip in the Houston Cougar Classic. After, they will head to Oklahoma to compete in the Nike Invitational.