BEAUMONT, Texas — Fresh off its first conference victory of the season, the Lamar University Cardinals volleyball team is on the road for the next two matches in Louisiana.
On Thursday night, the Cardinals meet rival McNeese for the 84th edition of the rivalry.
LU then concludes the road trip with a match against Nicholls on Saturday.
COWGIRLS AT A GLANCE
2025 SCHEDULE: The Cowgirls began the season 3-1 before dropping four straight matches … McNeese is 1-6 in its last seven matches with a five-set win over New Orleans … Six of the last seven matches have been lost by way of a sweep … McNeese is coming off a straight set loss to Incarnate Word this past weekend.
2025 RECORD: 5-11 (1-3 Southland Conference)
OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Senior outside hitter D'Nari Mills leads the way with 173 kills and 190 points as she averages 2.93 kills per set … She is one of three players with 100 or more kills … Senior outside hitter Kayla Wilson ranks second on the team with 138 kills while freshman middle blocker / outside hitter Ava Henry has 129 … Freshman setter Kinga Ziolkowska has a team high 321 assists and 15 service aces … Sophomore setter Corynne Hausler is second on the team with 217 assists.
DEFENSIVE LEADERS: Senior libero Lauren Fuller leads the back row with 208 digs while Mills is second with 156 … Senior middle blocker Jordan Gamble has a team high 38 total blocks (Three solo / 35 block assists).
2024 RECAP: McNeese finished the season 10-18 overall and 6-10 in conference play … The last trip to the conference tournament came in 2023 when the Cowgirls finished tied for third with a 13-5 league record… McNeese's last overall winning season was in 2022.
HEAD COACH: Sasha Karelov is in her fourth season since taking over at the helm in 2022 … Karelov led the Cowgirls to back-to-back Southland Conference tournament semifinal appearances in 2022 and 2023.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
LU vs. McNeese: The Cardinals lead the all-time series 47-36 since the first meeting in 1979 … McNeese is 8-2 vs. the Cardinals in the last 10 matches … LU split with McNeese in 2024 by notching a five-set win back on Nov. 9 in Beaumont … LU's last win in Lake Charles came on Oct. 22, 2019 by way of a sweep.
CARDINALS AT A GLANCE
LEADING THE CONFERENCE: The Cardinals are leading the SLC in five of the seven main categories — points (1,108.5), assists (786), kills (829), total blocks (175.5) and digs (1,197) … LU is third in the conference in service aces (105).
NATIONALLY RANKED: LU is currently third in NCAA Division I in total digs … Iona leads the nation in total digs with 1,241 while Gardner-Webb is second with 1,209 … The Cardinals are also third in Division I in total blocks … Utah Valley leads the category with 193 total blocks while Kansas is second with 189 … The Cardinals are also 19th in assists and 24th in kills.
GO, GABBY, GO: This week,
Gabby Baker is second in Division I in total digs with 366 digs behind the leader — Nalani McBride of Gardner-Webb (373 digs) … Baker is one of two freshmen / underclassmen ranked in the top 10 in total digs … East Texas A&M freshman Jade Washington is eighth with 320 digs … Baker leads the conference in digs as she averages 4.95 per set … Baker is 62 digs away from tying the 10th highest mark in a season for digs in program history, which is 428 held by both Shanda Hart (2000) and Natalie Sarver (2002).
BRINGING THE BOOM: Daniella Udegbunam is sixth in Division I in total blocks with 86 … She leads the conference in total blocks, one block ahead of Southeastern Louisiana's India Bennett.
MILESTONE MOMENT: LU had two setters eclipse the 1,000-assist mark this season …
Jo Moffitt reached the milestone after a match vs. UT Rio Grande Valley … She now has 1,005 in her three-year career …
Alexa Gonzalez joined the club on Sept. 7 as she has tallied 1,301 assists in two seasons.
GETTING RECOGNIZED: Baker became the first defensive player at LU to earn Southland Conference Player of the Week honors since Lauren Stahlman in 2015 ... Baker earned defensive player of the week honors back on Sept. 22.
THIS AND THAT: Kinley Elms ranks seventh in the SLC in kills (154) … She's tallied a team high 60 kills in conference play … Elms tallied the second highest number of kills in a match after she posted 20 against both Southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans …
Maja Malinowska ranks third in the SLC in kills (198) and second in points (233) … Malinowska has recorded eight double-doubles this season where she's had double-digit figures in kills and digs … Gonzalez is fifth in the conference in assists (444) while she's also tied for fifth in service aces (21).
#PeckEmCards
