HUNTSVILLE, Texas – In their first match to go the distance this year, Lamar University volleyball came back from down two sets to one to defeat Sam Houston in the opening match of the Bearkat Classic, 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11). This marked the first victory for the Cardinals over SHSU since 2015 and their first win in Huntsville since 2007.
Lamar (7-4) finished the match hitting 64-26-162 (.235) from the floor.
Maja Malinowska recorded a career-high 33 kills, the most by a Southland Conference player in eight years (Laura Milos - SFA) and the most by a Cardinal since Natalie Sarver in 2002. She also tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 15 digs with
Keeley Nellis and
Alexa Gonzalez racking up 17 and 13 digs, respectively. Gonzalez finished with a career-high 59 assists while
Lyric Jordan managed 15 kills.
SHSU (4-6) ended the match with an attack rate of 21.8 percent (59-23-165). They also recorded ten blocks, but nine service errors and 23 attacking errors proved costly in the end.
Big Red fell behind early to start the first set but fought back to tie the match at 21 apiece. The Cardinals then scored four of the last five points in the frame finished off by back-to-back kills from Malinowska.
Both teams went back-and-forth across the first 20 points of the second set before the Bearkats reeled off a 15-6 run to even things up in the match. Seven service errors in the period came back to bite the Cardinals.
A strong start from the Bearkats in the third set would be too much for the Cardinals to overcome. SHSU posted just three attacking errors finishing the set with a hitting percentage of .432.
Roles reversed in the fourth set as it was Lamar who started out on an 8-2 run and held on to force a tiebreaking fifth set. Malinowska chipped in eight kills while Gonzalez assisted on 14 of the team's points in the frame.
The Cardinals carried their momentum into the fifth set and built an early 5-2 lead behind attacking errors from the Bearkats. Big Red were then able to keep the hosts at arm's length the rest of the way with Malinowska getting the final three kills to wrap up her career day.
Lamar plays their final match of the Bearkat Classic on Saturday morning against Texas Southern at 10 a.m.
