BEAUMONT, Texas – In what has been a historical season for Lamar University volleyball, the Cardinals look to keep the train rolling as they start off their slate in the Southland Conference tournament against two-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday at 1 p.m. in Hammond, La. The winner of this match faces the winner of Stephen F. Austin and Houston Christian on Saturday at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
With a win needed to clinch their first trip to the conference tournament since 2011, Lamar came through with a road sweep at Nicholls on Saturday to punch their ticket to Hammond.
KEY STORYLINES
This has been a season of "sinces" for Lamar as head coach Ariel Apolinario has led the Cardinals to their first winning season since 2009. Under his leadership, they improved their win total from two to 15, good for the third largest single-season turnaround in the country this year
(South Dakota State +16, UConn +14) and the largest under a first-year head coach.
Apolinario has posted the most wins in a debut coaching season at Lamar since Fiona Bolten-Simmons in 2002. He has helped to raise the team's hitting percentage from .144 last season to .200 while also lowering that of their opponents from .257 to .205.
Much of Big Red's success this season has come with new players at the helm with 65.4% of Lamar's offensive production coming from freshmen. The team boasts the individual Southland freshman leader in points, kills, assists, digs and aces.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
In her first season in Beaumont,
Maja Malinowska was named to the All-SLC second team this season. She finished sixth in the Southland Conference in kills (3.61/set) and seventh in points (4.08/set while leading in those categories among freshmen.
Alexa Gonzalez took over as the primary setter role for Lamar in her rookie campaign. She finished the season ranked second in the Southland in aces (0.43/set) and fourth in assists (9.00/set). Among freshmen, she led the conference in aces and assists while ranking fifth and tenth in those categories nationally, respectively.
Keeley Nellis has excelled in the libero role for Lamar this year as she is part of what has been an impressive freshmen class for the Cardinals. She finished fourth in conference in digs (4.30/set) and seventh in aces (0.34 while leading the conference in digs among freshmen and placing second in aces.
OPPONENT INFO: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Time: Friday at 1 p.m.
Series Record: AM-CC 21-13
Last Meeting: AM-CC 3-0 (10/5/24)
The Islanders swept the Cardinals in the only meeting this season between the two teams in Corpus Christi. After a two-game slide to begin conference play, AM-CC has reeled off 12 wins in their last 14 matches. They have won 19 straight in this series with Lamar's last victory coming in 2011.
A trio of seniors for the Islanders were chosen to the All-SLC first team on Tuesday. Each of them rank in the top three in a statistical category in the conference this season. Alex Hoglund ranks second in the conference in assists (11.06/set) while Kyndal Payne is second in points (4.43/set) and Leah Stolfus sits third in hitting percentage (.362).
