BEAUMONT, Texas – Junior Malaysia Murdock recorded 14 kills while posting a .361 attack percentage, and Lamar University held Louisiana-Monroe to a .187 effort, but the Cardinals came up just short in the Katrinka Crawford Invitational Saturday afternoon at McDonald Gym. The Warkhawks rallied for the 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 17-25, 25-21, 15-11) decision to drop Big Red to 1-2 on the season.
 
The Cardinals raced out to a 1-0 lead after taking the first set by three, 25-22. The Cardinals recorded 17 kills with just six errors on 42 attempts (.262) to pull out a hard-fought opening set. The set was close throughout, but the LU gained an advantage late and held on for the victory.
 
The Cards carried that momentum over to the second set where they built a five-point lead, 24-19, late in the set. Facing five set points, that is where the momentum of the entire match flipped for ULM. The Warhawks were the beneficiaries of consecutive LU ball handling errors, followed by a service ace to trim the Cardinals' lead down to two, 24-22.
 
The set was tied at 24 after an LU attack error followed by a Monroe kill. The Warkhawks took the lead on the third ball handling error call in a six-point stretch, and then closed out the seven-point run to even the match at one set a piece.
 
After tying the match, ULM appeared to have all the momentum taking the third set by eight points, 25-17, but that is where the Cardinals clawed their way back into the match. The fourth started similar to the first – a close battle with lead changes and numerous ties. Monroe took a three-point lead, 17-14, midway through the set only to see the Cardinals rally for three consecutive points.
 
After Monroe stopped the run, LU scored five of the next six points to grab a three-point lead late, 22-19. LU kept the Warhawks at arm's length for the remainder of the set to force a fifth and deciding set. Although the Cardinals put up a late rally, they didn't have enough to overcome an early 8-2 deficit.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Tuesday when the travel to former conference foe McNeese to take on the Cowgirls. The match against the Cowgirls is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.