COMMERCE, Texas — It was a heart-pounding, edge of your seat volleyball match between the Lamar University Cardinals and East Texas A&M Lions on Saturday afternoon at The Field House.

The Cardinals dropped the opening set before overcoming 25 ties to take the second set.

East Texas A&M then took the third set by five.

LU turned things up to a whole new level in the final two sets as it dominated the fourth set with a 13-point win.

The Cardinals remained in control as they took the fifth set in dominating fashion, 15-4.

LU has recorded its longest winning streak since 2008.

"I would have liked a little more consistency between sets," said head coach Ariel Apolinario. "However, I truly believe the highs and lows are a part of what we are trying to do.

"I am pleased with how we responded every time we got tested. Winning is hard. Winning on the road makes it more challenging in so many ways."

In the opening set, the Lions came out with a 6-1 lead.

East Texas A&M's lead was extended to eight before the Cardinals fought back using a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to three.

Hailey McEllrath served up back-to-back service aces during the run.

LU got back to within two, but the Lions notched the final kill to take a 1-0 advantage.

The lead changed hands 10 times in the second set.

There were seven ties to start the set before the Lions gained a two-point lead that was short-lived.

Lyric Jordan and McEllrath landed two kills to tie up the score at 13-all.

The pendulum began to swing back and forth as each team exchanged point after point until the Cardinals went on a 4-0 run to take a 21-18 lead.

Taisha Rhone tallied back-to-back kills while Maja Malinowska served up an ace during the run.

East Texas A&M responded with a 3-0 run to tie the score at 21-all.

The score was tied 10 more times down the stretch before the Cardinals closed things out on a 2-0 run to tie up the match.

Keeley Nellis dived for a dig that ended up resulting in a kill to secure the set point.

LU scored the first three points to start the third set as Malinowska and Rhone tallied a pair of kills while Alexa Gonzalez served up an ace.

The Lions answered back with a 4-0 run to take the lead.

There was one more tie in the score before East Texas A&M used a 5-0 run to take a six-point lead.

East Texas A&M led by as much as eight before the Cardinals began chipping away at the deficit to trail by two late in the set.

This time the Lions closed out on a 2-0 run to take a 2-1 lead.

There wasn't a single tie or lead change in the fourth set as LU jumped out to a 4-1 lead.

LU established its dominance early, going on a 5-0 run to lead by seven. Malinowska had two kills during the run while Rhone served up back-to-back aces.

The Cardinals put together another 5-0 run to make the score 21-8. Rhone and Malinowska each tallied a pair of kills during the offensive onslaught.

LU took advantage of two errors by the Lions to score two unanswered points, closing out the set with a double-digit lead.

In the final set, the Cardinals went up 5-1 after some big blocks by Daniella Udegbunam and two kills by Jordan.

LU then put together a 7-0 run to lead by 10 points.  

Malinowska sealed the match by tallying the final two kills of the afternoon.

"It felt like we played two different matches today," Apolinario added. "There was set one and three and then sets two, four and five.

"I thought our service pressure kept us in the match. We cleaned up our block defense. Once we made those changes, our floor defense provided us with plenty of opportunities to transition."

RECORDS: LU (14-11, 7-3); East Texas A&M (6-15, 4-6)

MATCH NOTES

• Rhone led the way with 19 kills while she tallied three service aces, seven block assists and eight digs.
• Malinowska tallied her 14th double-double, seventh straight, as she recorded 18 kills, one assist, two service aces and 20 digs.
• Jordan added 15 kills, three total blocks and five digs.
• McEllrath finished with eight kills, three service aces, two total blocks and five digs.
• Udegbunam led the defensive front with eight block assists while she also had three digs and one kill.
• Gonzalez finished with 50 assists, four service aces, three kills and 16 digs. She has tallied 50 or more assists in three matches while she also had her ninth double-double of the season.  
• As a team, LU posted a game high 13 service aces and 60 assists.
• Gabby Baker led the back line with 26 digs while she had six assists and one service ace.
• Baker officially moved to third all-time in program history for digs in a season. Baker has 494 digs as she surpassed Natalie Sarver in third place who tallied 490 digs in 2000. She is 40 digs away from tying the second most total in a season (534 digs | Miriam Erickson, 1992).
• Neelis finished with 21 digs, two assists and one kill.
• The Cardinals notched their first win in Commerce after dropping matches there in 2023 and 2022.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals return home for two matches as they take on McNeese at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30.