BEAUMONT, Texas — For the first time since 2002, the Lamar volleyball team has notched two wins over its rival McNeese during the regular season.

The Cardinals made quick work of the Cowgirls Thursday night with a sweep by the scores of 25-20, 25-19, 25-15, in front of an electric crowd at the McDonald Gym.

LU extends its winning streak to eight while it improves to 49-36 all-time against McNeese since 1979.

The last time the Cardinals swept the Cowgirls in Beaumont was on Oct. 27, 2012.

There was a brief 1-1 tie to start the opening set until the Cardinals went on a tear, putting together a 6-0 run that featured kills from Maja Malinowska, Kinley Elms and Daniella Udegbunam as well as a service ace by Malinowska.

The Cardinals then went on a 4-0 run to extend their lead to nine.

McNeese used a 5-1 run to chip its way back as it trailed by four. LU did not buckle as Elms tallied the set point to secure the first set.

There were three ties early in the second set before LU outscored McNeese, 5-1, to lead by four.

Taisha Rhone had back-to-back kills to start the run. She finished with three during the run.

After a pair of kills from Malinowska and Hailey McEllrath, the Cardinals led by eight points.

The Cowgirls went on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to four, but LU got back-to-back kills by Malinowska and Udegbunam to extend the lead to six.

Rhone slammed down the final kill of the set to put the Cardinals up 2-0.

McNeese held a 7-6 lead early in the third set that was short-lived as the Cardinals went on a 6-1 run to take a 12-8 lead.

The Cardinals then began to run away with the set as they went on an 8-0 run to make the score 20-9.

Malinowska served up a pair of aces while Lyric Jordan and Rhone each had two kills during the big run.

McNeese got into double-digits on the scoreboard as it went on a 3-0 run, but it was too little too late for the Cowgirls.

Emily Moon tallied a kill and then Riley Johnson came in and got a block to secure the sweep.

RECORDS: McNeese (6-17, 2-9); LU (15-11, 8-3)

MATCH NOTES

• Rhone led the way with 14 kills, four digs and two block assists.
• Malinowska finished with 12 kills, four service aces, one solo block and six digs.
• Elms added with seven kills and one dig.
• Alexa Gonzalez tallied 39 assists and five digs.
• Udegbunam had four solo blocks, three kills and one dig.
• The Cardinals hit .346, their highest attack percentage of the season, while they had 46 kills.
• Gabby Baker finished with 20 digs and one assist. Baker is 20 digs away from tying the second most digs tallied in a season in program history (534 digs | Miriam Erickson, 1993).
• Dating back to 2012, Gabby Baker becomes the first Cardinal to tally 500 or more digs in a season.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals host Nicholls State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1.