BEAUMONT, Tx. – Big Red took advantage of a career-high 22 kills from freshman Lyric Jordan and 19 from Taisha Rhone to come out victorious in their home finale against Nicholls, 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 25-20), Saturday morning at McDonald Gym.
 
Lamar finished the match 62-22-136 (.294) to go along with four blocks and seven aces. Wiktoria Warpechowska contributed 14 kills while Jo Moffitt and Jordan led the team with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
Nicholls ended with an attack rate of 21.3 percent (44-18-122). The Colonels were hindered by six service errors and 18 on the attacking front.
 
A back-and-forth first set saw the teams play even through the first sixteen points before the Cardinals jumped out a six-point advantage. Rhone and Jordan combined for 10 kills that proved to be the difference as Lamar held on to win the set.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead in the second set spurred by multiple attack errors from Nicholls. The dominance would continue as the lead would never be fewer than five points from that point on.
 
Nicholls was the squad to start fast with their backs against the wall in the third set as a 10-5 run prompted a Lamar timeout. Despite a strong rally from the Cardinals, they were unable to overcome the slow start as the Colonels extended the match.
 
Both teams were locked in a grudge match to begin the fourth set as neither team held more than a two-point edge before the media timeout. A quick 8-3 Cardinal burst after that, however, accompanied with seven kills from Rhone proved to be enough to seal the victory.
 
The Cardinals enter their final match week as they hit the road twice to end their season. They face off against Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday and travel to New Orleans Saturday. The match against the Lions is at 6:30 p.m. while the clash with the Privateers is at 11 a.m.