LAKE CHARLES, La. — In the 84th edition of the Battle at the Border version of volleyball, the Lamar University Cardinals overcame a first-set loss to take down rival McNeese in four sets, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16, at the Townsley Law Arena on Thursday night.

The Cardinals had not won a match in Lake Charles since October 2019. The Cowgirls were 8-2 against LU in the last 10 meetings.

"Winning is hard. Winning on the road makes it more difficult and satisfying at the same time," said head coach Ariel Apolinario. "The Battle at the Border is a rivalry that most of our student-athletes truly don't understand yet.

"I thought we battled and grinded it out on a night that wasn't always very clean. We had some solid individual performances."

There were six ties in the score to start the first set.

LU used a 4-0 run to take a three-point lead. Alexa Gonzalez served three straight aces while Maja Malinowska tallied a kill during the run.

McNeese flipped the script by going on a 5-0 run, taking a five-point lead.

The Cowgirls finished the set by scoring four unanswered points.

Early in the second set, Lyric Jordan slammed down a kill to give the Cardinals a four-point lead.

LU then scored four unanswered points to increase its lead to six. Jordan tallied another kill while Taisha Rhone served up an ace during the offensive run.

The Cardinals kept up the momentum as Gonzalez got a kill, and Hailey McEllrath tallied an ace to extend the lead to seven.

Malinowska found a rhythm tallying back-to-back kills to make the score 21-15.

Trailing by six, McNeese clawed its way back into the set as it used a 5-0 run to tie the score at 22-all.

Jordan gave her team the lead back with a kill before the Cowgirls answered back with a kill of their own to tie up the set once more.

LU closed things out with two unanswered points, which included a kill from Rhone to tie up the match.

After trailing briefly to start the third set, the Cardinals went on a 4-0 run to take a 5-2 lead.

LU extended its lead to five after Jordan and Malinowska each had a kill and Keeley Nellis served up an ace.

The Cardinals kept their foot on the accelerator outscoring the Cowgirls, 6-1, to lead by seven. Rhone had three kills during the offensive rally.

McNeese rallied late using a 5-0 run to trail by one before eventually tying the score at 21-all.

The Cardinals put the finishing touches on the set by closing out on a 4-0 run that ended with an ace by Gonzalez.

LU began the fourth set scoring three unanswered points which included a kill from Malinowska and an ace by Gonzalez.

After a clutch solo block by Daniella Udegbunam that fueled a 4-0 run, the Cardinals led by eight points.  

The Cardinals ended up outscoring McNeese, 4-1, down the final stretch. Malinowska dealt the final blow with a kill to seal up the match.

"I thought we did a good job at blocking the noise and handled ourselves with tremendous professionalism on and off the court," added Apolinario.

RECORDS: LU (9-11, 2-3); McNeese (5-12, 1-4)

MATCH NOTES

• Malinowska led the way with 17 kills, two service aces and 16 digs. This was her ninth double-double of the season.
• Jordan tallied 16 kills and two digs.
• Rhone finished with 12 kills, four total blocks and seven digs.
• Gonzalez finished with 37 assists, five service aces and seven digs.
• McEllrath added to the offense with two kills and two service aces while on defense she had three block assists.
• Udegbunam had three total blocks.
• The Cardinals served 11 aces, just one shy of tying the season-high mark of 12 vs. Louisiana Tech on Sept. 7.
• Gabby Baker led the defense with 19 digs while she had seven assists. Baker is 43 digs away from tying the 10th most digs in a season in program history. The record is 428 held by both Shanda Hart (2000) and Natalie Sarver (2002).

UP NEXT

The Cardinals travel to Nicholls for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 11.