BEAUMONT, Texas - Wrapping up its four-game Southland Conference road trip, the volleyball team of Lamar University will play at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and at Houston Baptist University this week with the hopes of moving back into playoff contention. The Cards currently sit in 10th place, just a half game behind both A&M-Corpus Christi and HBU.
THE LAST TIME OUT - SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AND NORTHWESTERN STATE
Southeastern Louisiana
Though Lamar University's women's volleyball team won the first set 25-19 and led late in the second and fourth games, the Cardinals fell in four sets Thursday in a Southland Conference match at Southeastern Louisiana.
Tomar Thomas led offensively with 11 kills, and
Bre'Ala Box joined her in double digits with 10, hitting at an impressive .444 percentage.
Erin Pequeno was the only Cardinal with double-digit digs, and
Kinsy Haschke handled the majority of the passing effort for the Cards Thursday with 21 assists, a career best.
Northwestern State
Bre'Ala Box,
Ivette Dim, and
Monica Strohschein paced the offense Saturday in an early morning match at Northwestern State. The Lady Demons captured a three-set decision over the Cardinals.
Box and Dim had six kills apiece with each hitting over .400 in the match, and Strohschein poured in another five.
Erin Pequeno continued to be one of the most consistent defensive presences in the Southland Conference with 18 digs, her eighth consecutive match with double-digit digs.
Kyla Rogers (15 assists) and
Kinsy Haschke (13 assists) split the setting duties.
Lamar at A&M-Corpus Christi - Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Lamar holds a 14-12 advantage over the Islanders, but recently A&M-Corpus Christi has retained bragging rights - the last time Big Red won a match against the Islanders was on Oct. 8, 2011. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 4-16 overall this season with three of those wins coming in SLC play - vs. Nicholls (3-0, Sept. 20), vs. New Orleans (3-0, Sept. 22), and vs. UIW (3-1, Oct. 4).
Steve Greene is in his third season as the head coach of the Islanders and holds a 43-38 record, including a 30-9 conference mark.
A&M-Corpus Christi ranks near the top of the SLC in several offensive categories, including team kills (sixth - 849), total attacks (seventh - 2,528), attacks per set (fifth - 35.11), and total assists (seventh, 789). The Islanders are last in blocks per set (1.06) and eighth in digs per set (14.50).
Rachel Young leads in kills with 165, but
Chloe Simon (144),
Madison Green (124), and
Sam Dumity (124) all have over 100 kills on the year. Green also handles most of the passing duties with 431 assists in 2018, and Dumity leads in blocks with 39.0 total.
Jenna Krenek (179) leads the team in digs.
Lamar at Houston Baptist - Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.
The Cards are 8-7 all-time against HBU, including a 3-2 record in the last five meetings. HBU won the only match between the two programs in 2017 - a 3-0 decision on Sept. 28.
HBU is 10-11 this season and 3-4 in SLC play, but will face two opponents before hosting Lamar on Saturday. The Huskies will travel to Sam Houston State on Tuesday and host McNeese on Thursday.
Trent Herman has been with HBU since May of 2012, and holds a 116-99 record as the Huskies head coach. He coached St. Thomas - Houston the two seasons prior to joining HBU, accruing a 43-33 mark at that program. Overall in his ninth season as a head coach he holds a 159-132 record.
Houston Baptist leads the SLC and is 21st in the nation in service aces per set, averaging 1.66 a set. The Huskies' 133 total aces are second in the SLC behind only New Orleans. HBU also ranks near the top of the conference in several categories including second in total assists (944), total digs (1,261), and total kills (1,019).
Mikayla Vivens is second in the league in attacks per set, averaging 10.83, and
Megan Patillo's 0.94 blocks a set is seventh in the SLC.
Madison O'Brien is dealing 9.37 assists a set, second in the conference, and her 731 total assists is also second in the SLC.
Hannah Lewis has 315 total digs, the third-most in the league.
