BEAUMONT, Texas — In front of a capacity crowd Thursday night, the Lamar volleyball team fought hard and showed lots of grit against the conference-leading Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks.

Unfortunately, the Ladyjacks came away with the sweep at the McDonald Gym.

LU finishes 9-3 at home to record back-to-back winning seasons of .500 or better for the first time since 2018 and 2019. The Cardinals have gone 15-6 at home since 2024.

In the opening set, the Cardinals scored the first two points with an ace by Alexa Gonzalez and a kill from Maja Malinowska.

SFA then went on a 6-0 run.

The Ladyjacks led by as much as seven points in the middle of the set before the Cardinals used a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to four.

Kinley Elms and Lyric Jordan each tallied a kill during the run.

SFA responded with an 8-1 run to extend its lead to 11.

There were four ties to start the second set. LU trailed by three and then fought back to tie the score at nine-all with a 3-0 run.

Malinowska tallied two kills while Jordan had a clutch solo block to get LU back in the fight.

SFA outscored the Cardinals 5-2 to take a four-point lead. The Cardinals kept chipping away until they trailed by one late in the set.

However, the Ladyjacks closed out the set with a 3-0 run to pull away and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The momentum shifted back and forth with 16 ties in the third set.

Trailing 5-3, LU went on a 3-0 run to take a one-point lead. Gonzalez served up another ace while Malinowska put down another kill during the run.

As the lead contiued to exchange hands down the stretch, the Cardinals scored three unanswered points to be a point away from forcing a fourth set.

SFA ended up closing out the set with three unanswered points to pull away.

RECORDS: LU (17-13, 10-5); SFA (19-7, 14-1)

MATCH NOTES

• Malinowska recorded her 18th double-double of the season as she finished with 17 kills, 11 digs, one service ace and one solo block.
• Jordan, Hailey McEllrath and Sydnee Griffen each tallied three kills.
• Jordan finished with three block assists while McEllrath had two.
• Gonzalez tallied her 11th double-double after recording 25 assists, 10 digs, two service aces and two kills. She is now 90 assists away from reaching 1,000 for the season.
• Gabby Baker led the defense with 16 digs while she also had two assists. Baker is 23 digs away from tying the single season program record for digs (602 digs | Andrea Hamilton, 2007).
• Addison Stanley added to the defense with 13 digs.
• Keeley Nellis had six digs, one service ace and three assists.
• Regardless of the outcome in the season finale, the Cardinals are on the cusp of posting back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals travel to Nacogdoches for the season finale against SFA on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 12 p.m.