BEAUMONT, Texas — On a five-game winning streak, the Lamar University volleyball team has now entered a two-way tie for third place in the Southland Conference.

The Cardinals head back out on the road this week for two matches beginning with a contest against Northwestern State.
2025 SCHEDULE: The Lady Demons won their season opener over Tennessee State in five sets and then went on to drop their next 21 matches … During the skid, Northwestern State has suffered 18 losses by three sets … The Lady Demons have been swept in their last 11 matches … Northwestern State last won a set on Sept. 13 against North Texas in a match that went four sets.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Senior middle blocker Deja Benjamin leads the attack with 160 kills … Junior middle blocker Samaya Wesson ranks second on the team with 133 kills … Freshman redshirt setter Reagan Hamm has a team high 313 assists … Junior setter Jade Longlad ranks second with 243 assists … Longlad leads the team with 40 service aces.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS: Freshman Emmarie McFarland leads the defense with 238 digs … Wesson has posted a team high 61 total blocks (54 block assists, seven solo blocks) while Benjamin is second with 47 total blocks (38 block assists, nine solo blocks).

2024 RECAP: Northwestern State finished the season 8-17 overall and 3-13 in SLC play … The program's last trip to the conference tournament came in 2023 while the last winning season was in 2022 when the Lady Demons finished 19-13 overall.

HEAD COACH: Ben Kaszeta is in his first year at the helm of the program since being hired in January of 2025 … Kaszeta spent one year at Lamar University as an assistant coach during the 2024 season.

• SFA (12-7, 7-1)
• UTRGV (12-7, 7-1)
• Southeastern Louisiana (14-6, 6-2)
• UIW (10-10, 6-2)
• Lamar (12-11, 5-3)
• HCU (10-11, 5-3)
• East Texas A&M (6-13, 4-4)
• A&M-Corpus Christi (7-13, 3-5)
• New Orleans (7-14, 2-6)
• McNeese (6-14, 2-6)
• Nicholls (11-10, 1-7)
• Northwestern State (1-21, 0-8)

LU vs. Northwestern State: The Cardinals are 26-20 all-time vs. the Lady Demons since the first meeting in 1982 … In 2024, LU swept Northwestern State to mark its first win in the series since 2021 … LU has not won in Natchitoches, La. since Oct. 13, 2011.
LEADING THE CONFERENCE: LU leads the Southland Conference in six of the seven categories — points (1,405.5), assists (1,001), kills (1,057), blocks (207.5), service aces (141) and digs (1,476).

NATIONALLY RANKED: The Cardinals are ranked third in Division I in both digs and attacks (3,274) while they are tied for fifth in blocks, 12th in assists and 17th in kills.

GO, GABBY, GO: Gabby Baker now ranks second in Division I in digs with 456 … Gardner-Webb's Nalani McBride is now the Division I leader with 465 … Baker is one of three freshmen ranked in the top 10 in digs in Division I (The other two are: East Texas A&M's Jade Washington (No. 5) and College of Charleston's Juwana Martin (No. 9.)) … Baker continues to lead the Southland Conference in digs while she is second in digs per set (5.07) … Baker moved up to sixth all-time in the program record book for digs in a season … Baker is 17 digs away from tying the fifth most digs in a season (Lisa Gaston, 1997 | 473 digs) and 22 away from reaching the fourth most (Miriam Erickson, 1991 | 478 digs).

OFFENSIVE LEADER: Maja Malinowska is the conference leader in kills (286) and points (333) … She is tied for seventh in the conference in service aces (24) while she is also seventh in digs (258) … Malinowska has recorded 12 double-doubles this season.

BRINGING THE BOOM: Daniella Udegbunam is tied for 10th in Division I in total blocks (101) … Udegbunam ranks second in Division I in solo blocks (32), one behind Wyoming's Sarah Holcomb …. Udegbunam leads the conference in total blocks and solo blocks while she is second in block assists (69).

THIS AND THAT: Alexa Gonzalez ranks third in the conference in assists (640) and fourth in service aces (29) … Taisha Rhone is sixth in the conference in kills (214) and points (251.5) … Kinley Elms ranks ninth in kills (173) and points (193).

GAME HIGHS: Malinowska's .571 attack percentage vs. Nicholls is the highest in a game since 2018 (Tomar Thomas: 20 kills / .625 vs. Prairie View A&M) … Malinowska's 27 kills in a four-set win over Nicholls are the second most tallied in a four-set match in program history … Baker's 38 digs vs. UL Monroe are the most in a five-set match in program history (Tied for sixth most in a five-set match in all of Division I) surpassing the mark of 37 digs set by Kaeden Robinson in 2023 vs. Nicholls … Udegbunam's 14 total blocks vs. Texas Southern are the second most recorded in a five-set match in program history (Tied for fourth most in a five-set match in all of Division I).

THAT WINNING FEELING: LU is two wins away from recording its longest winning streak since 2008 … The Cardinals are trying to post back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2008 (17-12) and 2009 (15-14).

HOME SWEET HOME: LU is trying to post back-to-back seasons of .500 or better at home since 2018 (7-5) and 2019 (6-6) … The Cardinals have gone 13-5 at home the last two seasons.

FOUR SETS: The Cardinals have won their last five matches in four sets … LU is now 7-2 in four-set matches this season.

GETTING RECOGNIZED: LU has had three players recognized as Southland Conference Players of the Week this season: Baker (Defensive Player of the Week / Sept. 22), Malinowska (Offensive Player of the Week / Oct. 20) and Gonzalez (Setter of the Week / Oct. 20).

MILESTONE MOMENT: LU had two setters eclipse the 1,000-assist career mark this season … Jo Moffitt reached 1,005 career assists in her three-year career while Gonzalez now has 1,497 in her two-year career.