HAMMOND, La. — Heading into Thursday night's marquee matchup, the Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team had never lost at home, sporting an unblemished 10-0 record.

Behind a solid team effort, the Cardinals put an end to that with an exhilarating five set win, 25-23, 26-24, 21-25, 24-26, 15-12, at the University Center.

Southeastern Louisiana had not dropped a set since Oct. 16.

Lamar University has now won 10 matches in a row. This marks the seventh time in program history that LU has tallied a win streak of 10 or more games.

The Cardinals defeated the Lady Lions in Hammond, La. for the first time since Oct. 26, 2017. Ironically, the match went in five sets.

Gabby Baker continues to rewrite history as she has now moved up the ladder tallying the second most digs in a season in program history. She surpassed Miriam Erickson's 534 digs set in 1992.

LU officially moves into a two-way tie for second place in the latest Southland Conference standings.

In the middle of the first set, the Cardinals trailed by five points before surmounting a comeback which began with a 6-0 run.

Taisha Rhone served up an ace and tallied a kill while Maja Malinowska added to the run with a kill. Alexa Gonzalez and Hailey McEllrath then teamed up for a block to give LU a one-point lead.

Southeastern Louisiana came back to tie up the set at 17-all until the Cardinals went on a 4-1 run to take back the lead. Lyric Jordan, Malinowska and Rhone each had a kill during the run.

The Cardinals went up by four points after another kill from Malinowska.

Southeastern Louisiana then scored three unanswered points to get within one, but Rhone was there to slam down the final kill to give LU a 1-0 lead in the match.

LU went on a 4-0 run early in the second to take an 11-6 lead. Keeley Nellis highlighted the run with a service ace.

The Cardinals extended their lead to seven with an ace from Gonzalez.

Southeastern Louisiana rallied back using a 6-1 run to trail by two. The Lady Lions then used another 6-1 run to take a 23-21 lead.

Down the stretch, the Lady Lions were a point away from tying up the match before the Cardinals surged back using a 4-0 run to take a 2-0 advantage.

Southeastern Louisiana led by as much as six points in the middle of the third set.

LU managed to cut the deficit to one point using a 3-0 run, but the Lady Lions answered back with a 4-1 run to avoid the sweep.

There were 12 ties in the score during the fourth set.

LU erased a four-point deficit by going on a 5-1 run to take a one-point lead.

The Cardinals extended their lead to three using a 4-1 run.

As the momentum shifted back and forth down the final stretch, Southeastern Louisiana pulled away with a 3-0 run to force a fifth set.

The final set featured seven ties.

Southeastern Louisiana held a 7-5 lead after going on a 3-0 run. The Cardinals retaliated with a 4-0 run of their own to take the lead.

There were three more ties in the score before LU closed out the set with a 3-0 run. Malinowska tallied back-to-back kills while Rhone notched the match point after the video replay went in favor of the Cardinals.

RECORDS: Lamar (17-11, 10-3); Southeastern Louisiana (18-7, 10-3)

MATCH NOTES

• Malinowska finished with 30 kills, 16 digs, one assist, one service ace and two block assists.
• Malinowska recorded her 16th double-double of the season. She's tallied nine in her last 10 matches.
• Malinowska recorded the fourth most kills in a five-set match in program history. Her 30 kills were three shy of tying her career high set back on Sept. 20, 2024 vs. Sam Houston State.
• Rhone tallied 14 kills, 20 digs, one service ace and three block assists.
• Jordan added nine kills, three digs, one assist and one block assist.
• Gonzalez finished with 51 assists, six digs, three service aces and two block assists.
• McEllrath led the defensive front with five block assists while she also had three kills and one dig.
• Daniella Udegbunam finished with four total blocks and three kills.
• Nellis served up two aces while she tallied eight digs.
• Baker led the defense with 22 digs while she had three assists. Baker is 48 digs away from tying the single season record for digs in program history (602 digs | Andrea Hamilton, 2007).
• The Cardinals have tied the fifth longest winning streak in program history. LU finished the 1979 and 1983 seasons with a 10-game winning streak.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals take on New Orleans for an 11 a.m. match on Saturday, Nov. 8.