BEAUMONT, Texas - In front of another loud and supportive crowd, the volleyball team of Lamar University (5-8, 0-3) put up a valiant effort Thursday against Stephen F. Austin (15-1, 3-0 SLC). The Cards at one point outscored the Ladyjacks 22-17 in the second set and led several times in the third set, but LU came up just short against the Southland Conference-leading Jacks.

Abigale Nash continued to demonstrate her offensive prowess Thursday with a team-leading 12 kills, though she wasn't the only Cardinal in double digits in kills. Kayla Neumann had 10 kills, and Bre'Ala Box came up just short of double digits with nine. Erin Pequeno led in digs with 17 and was followed by Neumann (eight digs) and Nash (seven digs). Dannisha House had four blocks including a monster solo block in the third set, and Annika Slovak had 30 assists as the team's primary setter.

Lamar did tie up the opening set once, but the game was largely in SFA's control. The Ladyjacks hit .333 in the set and forced a .028 hitting percentage from LU, and Stephen F. Austin took the first set 25-15.

The second set started out in similar fashion with SFA jumping out to 13-3 lead. The Cards didn't give up though; fighting back throughout the rest of the game. Big Red closed the lead to seven points, 14-7, then used another big run to pull within four, 16-12. SFA strung together a 4-0 run of its own to take a bit of momentum back, and the Cards and Jacks traded points until the set reached 24-17 in favor of SFA. Neumann and Nash fueled a 5-0 Cardinal run to survive five set points, but SFA closed the door on the comeback with a kill. Stephen F. Austin won the set 25-22 and took a 2-0 lead into the break.

The final set was the closest of the match. Lamar jumped out with an early 5-2 lead and managed to stay in front of the Jacks until a 4-0 run later on gave SFA an 11-10 lead. Neumann tied the game at 11-11 with a dramatic kill, but SFA would trade three points for every two the Cards scored. The Ladyjacks led 20-14 before a service error cut off the SFA momentum, and LU capitalized with two aces and an SFA error to pull within two points, 20-18. Stephen F. Austin closed out the game with a 5-2 run, winning 25-20. The match went to SFA 3-0.

Lamar returns to action on Saturday when the Wildcats of Abilene Christian University (4-9, 2-1 SLC) come to town at 1 p.m.

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