BEAUMONT, Texas – As a new month rolls around, Lamar University volleyball marches on in conference play with a pair of games this week. They host Texas A&M-Commerce at McDonald Gym on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. before traveling south to face off against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT
Lamar (9-5, 1-1 SLC) was on the opposite side of back-to-back sweeps to begin their Southland campaign. They fell to back-to-back defending champions Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday before getting back on track with a win over New Orleans on Saturday.
KEY STORYLINES
Last week was a tale of two games for the Cardinals as they faced off against the two extremes in the conference. They were held as a team to a .064 hitting percentage against the Lions but rebounded with a .234 mark against the Privateers for the first win on the road at UNO since 2016.
Service success has also been coupled with service woes for Big Red this year. The team leads the conference in aces (1.75/set) but has struggled with service errors at times reaching the double-digit mark seven times this season.
One more win for the Cardinals would clinch their first double-digit win season since 2015. Head coach Ariel Apolinario hopes to ride early season momentum even further and move towards chasing the team's first winning season since 2009.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
A freshmen trio leads the way for the Cardinals statistically with all three ranking in the top three in the Southland in various categories.
Alexa Gonzalez leads the conference in assists (10.44/set) while
Maja Malinowska ranks second in kills (3.98/set) and third in points (4.28/set).
Keeley Nellis also ranks second in digs (4.60/set) and third in aces (0.44/set).
As of late,
Ashlyn Gamble has become a force at the net for Lamar with ten total blocks last week including a career-high six against UNO. Her stellar play has also earned her more attempts on the attacking front which she is taking advantage of as shown by a hitting percentage of .462 in the Big Easy.
OPPONENT INFO: Texas A&M-Commerce (6-9, 3-0 SLC)
Time: Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Series Record: AM-C 3-1
Last Meeting: AM-C 3-0 (10/14/23)
After a rough start to the season, the Lions opened conference play last week with three victories over Northwestern State, Incarnate Word and McNeese. AM-C was picked to finish tenth in the SLC preseason poll, one spot ahead of the Cardinals.
The Lions' success earned two of their players weekly honors with Jade Smith and Ellie Baumert winning SLC defensive player and setter of the week awards, respectively. This was Smith's second nod of the season as she leads the conference in digs (5.32/set) while Baumert ranks sixth in assists (6.54/set).
OPPONENT INFO: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-8, 0-2 SLC)
Time: Saturday at 1 p.m.
Series Record: AM-CC 20-13
Last Meeting: AM-CC 3-0 (10/21/23)
The Islanders began conference play last week with losses to preseason favorite Stephen F. Austin and Houston Christian both on the road. They will travel for a nonconference clash against Prairie View A&M on Thursday before returning to Corpus Christi for their conference home opener.
Despite some early season struggles, AM-CC lead the Southland in kills (13.63/set) and assists (12.43/set). Kyndal Payne, the reigning SLC Player of the Year, ranks seventh in the conference in points (3.99/set) while Alex Hoglund ranks fourth in assists (9.34/set).
