BEAUMONT, Texas - Hitting the road with a two-game win streak in tow, the volleyball team of Lamar University will travel to Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday and Northwestern State on Saturday for a two-game Southland Conference swing through the Bayou State.

THE LAST TIME OUT - NEW ORLEANS
For the second time in as many games, Lamar University's volleyball team fought back from the brink of defeat to win a five-set match. The Cards faced match point twice and used a 4-0 run to capture victory over the University of New Orleans on Saturday.

"I didn't know how we were going to be able to respond today after that long match Thursday," said head coach Michelle Kuester. "We came out really strong and then we had that let up. UNO did a great job and came out way more aggressive in the third and fourth than what they did in the first and second, and it took us a couple of sets to adjust to them but by the fifth we'd made a bit of a lineup change to even up our matchup. It ended up working out for us."

Ivette Dim was one of four Cards with double-digit kills. The senior had 14, joined by Abigale Nash (12), Tomar Thomas (10), and Dannisha House (10). Bre'Ala Box hit .692 on the afternoon with nine kills as well. Zahria Scott (12) and Erin Pequeno (14) had double-digit digs, and Alyssa Legette (28) and Kyla Rogers (25) combined for 53 of the Cards' 59 assists. 34 ties and 15 lead changes took place from sets 1 to 5.

Lamar at Southeastern Louisiana - Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
The Cardinals hold a 26-8 record all-time against the Lady Lions, including an 11-5 advantage in Hammond, La. Last season Big Red won both matches between the two teams, a 3-1 victory in Beaumont on Oct. 10 and a 3-2 victory at Southeastern on Oct. 26. The Lady Lions are just 1-17 this season and winless in six tries in the SLC, having lost 16 consecutive matches.

Jim Smoot is in his sixth season with Southeastern and owns a 46-123 record there. He's been in the coaching profession for 27 seasons, racking up a 397-405 career record.

SLU has a diversified offense with seven different Lady Lions averaging over one kill a set, including points leader Elyssa Purcell, who has 106 kills on the year and averages 1.77 kills a set. Haley Baker (225 assists) and Michelle Mirarchi (209 assists) split time as the setter, and Sam Gomez leads the way in blocks with 45 on the year. Lexie Torres plays the defensive specialist role, averaging 3.36 digs a set for 198 on the year.

Lamar at Northwestern State - Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.
Northwestern State and Lamar will play each other for the 36th time on Saturday with the Cardinals holding a 23-12 advantage in the all-time series, including an 11-6 mark in Natchitoches, La. The one meeting between the two teams in 2017 went in favor of the Lady Demons, 3-0, in McDonald Gymnasium.

NSU is 6-10 overall this season and sits just one game behind Lamar in the SLC standings with a league record of 2-4. The Lady Demons are coached by Sean Kiracofe, who owns a 40-69 record in four seasons at the helm. Kiracofe has improved his win total in each of his three previous seasons.

Despite its record, statistically NSU is one of the better teams in the Southland. The Lady Demons are third in the SLC in blocks per set, averaging 2.15, and their 15.48 digs a set are also third-best in the league. Northwestern State averages 11.88 kills a set, which ranks sixth in the conference, as does their 84 total aces.

Reagan Rogers is among the best servers in the SLC with 23 service aces this season, the third-most in the league, and her 3.46 kills a set is also third-best. Her 3.99 points a set is second-best among Southland student-athletes. Brooke Wood's 64 total blocks ranks sixth in the SLC, and Channing Burleson has 298 total digs, the second-most in the SLC.