NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Lamar University opened the 2020-21 season with a doubleheader at Stephen F. Austin Friday afternoon. The Cardinals (0-2) dropped both non-conference matches which were played at Shelton Gym.  LU dropped the opening match of the day to Louisiana-Monroe, 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 23-25. 18-25), and fell to Stephen F. Austin, 3-0 (7-25, 14-25, 7-25) in the afternoon match.
 
The doubleheader was the first of five matches for the Cardinals during the COVID-shortened 2020 fall season.
 
The Cardinals held ULM to a .186 attack percentage but couldn't take advantage posting 49 kills on 167 attempts with 19 errors (.144). The Red and White finished the day with two more blocks, 8-6, than their opponents. LU had too many missed opportunities in the second match with 17 kills and 16 attack errors.
 
Sophomore Kaitlyn Gil led the Cardinals with 18 kills, three blocks and 23 digs, while senior Bre'Ala Box added 16 kills and four blocks.
 
"The moral of the story for today is that we have some things to work on," said first-year LU head coach Jordan Lay. "When we play in our system we know that can compete with these teams and score. We are young but we took some good steps forward today.
 
"Obviously, not having a full roster presented quite a bit of challenges for us. We really didn't have lineup changes when we needed to make them. I'm very proud of the players we have here today. They are in a difficult position but they're giving Lamar University everything they have. I'm looking forward to seeing what we learned from today and getting back on the court tomorrow," added Lay.
 
The Warhawks jumped out to an early lead in opening set scoring 10 of the matches first 13 points before the Red and White settled down. Once the Cardinals put a stop to the ULM run, Big Red battled its way right back into match with a 5-0 run of their own.
 
Sparked by a Tytiana Johnson block and kill, and aided by two Warhawk misfires, the Cardinals found themselves down only two, 10-8, midway through the first set. UL Monroe managed to put a stop to the run to build back a seven points lead, 18-11. It appeared the Warhawks were headed to an easy opening-set victory until Lay's club battled back late. The Cardinals pulled within two but could get no closer as Monroe held on for the 25-22 set-one victory.
 
The Cardinals' attack was failed by six errors in the opening set.
 
The second set started off in similar fashion, watching the Warhawks take an early six-point lead with LU battling right back to trim the lead down to one 14-13. The Warhawks answered with four straight forcing Big Red to make another run. The major different from the opening set is UL Monroe was unable to stop this run. The Cardinals took their first lead of the match at 21-20, riding the wave of an 8-2 run. The Cards pushed that run to 12-2 to lock up a 25-20 decision tying the match at 1. The Cardinals raised the attack percentage nearly 100 points in the second set.
 
After dropping a heartbreaker in set three that saw UL Monroe rally for the late victory, the Cardinals entered the fourth set needing a win to keep the match alive. While the Cardinals kept the match close, they were unable to get over the hump in the final set.
 
SFA proved too much for the Cardinals in the second match. SFA swept the match in straight sets holding the Cardinals to single digits in two of the three sets.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Saturday in a rematch with SFA. The match against the Lumberjacks will begin at 2:30 p.m. from Shelton Gym.