BEAUMONT, Texas - Hitting the road for the away half of the Battle of the Border, Lamar University's volleyball team will return to action Tuesday for a match at McNeese State University. The Cards will be looking for revenge against the Cowgirls after a four-set decision went McNeese's way in McDonald Gym on Sept. 29. The Cards will also look for a sweep of UIW on Nov. 1.
THE LAST TIME OUT - CENTRAL ARKANSAS AND STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Staving off match point six times, Lamar University's volleyball team almost forced a fourth set twice against the University of Central Arkansas. The Cards took the opening set to extras and flirted with a miraculous comeback in the pivotal third set before ultimately falling to the Sugar Bears in three sets on Thursday.
Bre'Ala Box led the offense with nine kills on a .389 hitting percentage, and
Kyla Rogers had 31 assists as the sole setter of the match, her third consecutive match of at least 30 assists.
Erin Pequeno was the only Cardinal with double-digit digs (10).
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
Wrapping up the home slate for the month of October, Lamar University's volleyball team hosted Stephen F. Austin on Saturday in the McDonald Gymnasium. The three-set match went in favor of the Ladyjacks.
Bre'Ala Box and
Tomar Thomas continued to lead the offensive effort with eight kills apiece, and
Kyla Rogers dealt out 22 of the 24 Cardinal assists. Thomas also led defensively with nine digs, and
Ivette Dim led in blocks with three total.
THIS WEEK - MCNEESE AND UIW
Lamar at McNeese - Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m.
A rivalry that dates back over 30 years, Lamar University and McNeese have played each other 70 times, and the Cards hold a 42-28 advantage in that series, though McNeese has won eight of the last 11, including a
four-set decision in Beaumont on Sept. 29.
Ashleigh Fitzgerald and the Cowgirls have gone 4-5 since their win over Lamar, improving her career record to 153-164 and her McNeese mark to 66-90. McNeese is now 7-20 this year with a 5-7 SLC record, good enough for a three-way tie with New Orleans and Houston Baptist for seventh in the
SLC standings with just four matches left on the docket.
McNeese ranks near the top of the SLC in total blocks (fourth, 205) and total attacks (sixth, 3,226), but their digs per set (10th, 13.81), assists per set (10th, 10.63), hitting percentage (ninth, 0.193), and kills per set (10th, 11.31) are all in the lower half of the league.
Paige Havel is statistically the best middle blocker in the conference with 1.24 blocks a set, and
Keegan Nelms' 838 total attacks are third in the league.
Angela McGownd has the second-most digs by any SLC student-athlete with 406 on the year.
Lamar at UIW - Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
Lamar is 3-5 all-time against the "other" Cardinals with two wins in McDonald Gym and one in San Antonio, Texas. UIW is 6-16 overall this season and 4-8 in league play, including a
four-set loss at Lamar on Sept. 25 when
Abigale Nash had a double-double of 18 kills and 13 digs.
Samantha Dabbs is rounding out her first season with UIW after six seasons as the associate head coach of the University of North Florida indoor program and the head coach of the beach volleyball program there.
UIW ranks eighth in the SLC in kills per set (11.87), assists per set (11.13), aces per set (1.23), and opponent hitting percentage (.226). The other Cards have a 0.195 hitting percentage, sixth in the league, and average 15.32 digs a game, fifth-most in the league.
Madelynn Miller leads the team defensively with 4.64 digs a set, the fourth-best mark in the conference, and
Bethany Clapp's 9.99 attacks a set and 3.89 points per set are also fourth in the SLC.
UP NEXT
The Cards will have just two matches left on their schedule after this week's slate - senior night against
Northwestern State on Nov. 8 and the regular season finale against
Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 10.
