BEAUMONT, Texas — Sporting a 10-game winning streak, the eighth longest active winning streak in Division I volleyball, the Lamar University Cardinals are looking to keep the momentum rolling as they travel to New Orleans on Saturday.

The Cardinals have moved into a two-way tie for second place in the latest Southland Conference standings, two games out of first.
   
CATCHING UP: The Privateers have dropped 11 of their last 12 matches … New Orleans is riding a seven-game skid … The Privateers have been swept in their last four matches after having faced Stephen F. Austin and Incarnate Word once each and Southeastern Louisiana twice … New Orleans dropped the first meeting against LU in four sets back on Oct. 4.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Senior middle blocker / outside hitter Courtney Roundtree leads the offense with 222 kills while graduate student opposite Alessandra Meoni is second with 212 kills … Junior outside hitter Celia Mbaya and sophomore libero / defensive specialist Peyton Cole both have a team high 13 service aces … Junior setter Defne Eciroglu has posted a team high 617 assists.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS: New Orleans has six players with 100 or more digs … Graduate student outside hitter Vanae Sapp leads the defense with 191 digs while Mbaya is second with 181 digs … Roundtree leads the way with 47 total blocks (32 block assists, 15 solo blocks) while Meoni has 43 total blocks (41 block assists, two solo blocks).
   

• SFA (17-7, 12-1)
• UTRGV (17-7, 12-1)
• Southeastern Louisiana (18-7, 10-3)
• Lamar (17-11, 10-3)
• UIW (13-12, 9-4)
• HCU (12-14, 7-6)
• A&M-Corpus Christi (10-15, 6-7)
• East Texas A&M (8-16, 6-7)
• McNeese (7-18, 3-10)
• New Orleans (7-19, 2-11)
• Nicholls (11-15, 1-12)
• Northwestern State (1-26, 0-13)

 
New Orleans vs. Lamar: The Cardinals lead the all-time series vs. New Orleans, 33-22, since the first meeting in 1980 … LU has won the last three meetings … The Cardinals notched their first win in New Orleans last season since Sept. 24, 2016.
 
LEADING THE CONFERENCE: LU leads the Southland Conference in six of the seven categories — points (1,739.5), assists (1,242), kills (1,314), blocks (241.5), service aces (184) and digs (1,819).

NATIONALLY RANKED: The Cardinals are tied for third in Division I in digs alongside Western Michigan … LU is fourth in attacks (3,975), ninth in assists, 13th in both total blocks and kills, tied for 16th in service aces and 17th in digs per set (16.6).

GO, GABBY, GO: Gabby Baker ranks second in Division I in total digs (554) while she is 11th in digs per set (5.08) … Baker continues to lead the Southland in digs while she is second in digs per set … Baker is one of two freshmen ranked in the top 10 in total digs in Division I (The other is East Texas A&M's Jade Washington: 494 digs | No. 6) … Baker moved up the ladder by tallying the second most digs in a season in program history surpassing Miriam Erickson's 534 digs set in 1992 … Baker is 48 digs away from tying the single season record for digs in program history (602 digs | Andrea Hamilton, 2007).

OFFENSIVE LEADER: Maja Malinowska leads the Southland Conference in kills (370) and points (429) … Malinowska entered the top 25 in Division I in points as she is 23rd … Malinowska is also sixth in the conference in service aces (33) and seventh in digs (324) … She has recorded 16 double doubles this season … Malinowska now has 808 career points, 705 career kills and 612 career digs.

BRINGING THE BOOM: Daniella Udegbunam leads the Southland in solo blocks (37) while she is second in total blocks (121) and block assists (84) … Udegbunam is second in Division I in solo blocks and tied for 14th in total blocks … The last time a Cardinal recorded 120 or more total blocks in a season was Chelsea Grant in 2015 (140 blocks) … Udegbunam becomes the first Cardinal to tally 100 or more total blocks in a season since 2022 (Tytiana Johnson, 103 total blocks | Wiktoria Warpechowska, 100 total blocks).

THIS AND THAT: Taisha Rhone is fifth in the Southland Conference in kills (286) and points (345.5) … Alexa Gonzalez ranks third in the conference in both assists (855) and service aces (40) … Gonzalez is 145 assists away from reaching 1,000 for the season … The last time an LU setter tallied 1,000 or more assists in a season was in 2022 (London Hatch, 1,140 assists) … Kinley Elms is 10th in the conference in kills (180) and points (200).

GAME HIGHS: Malinowska's .571 attack percentage vs. Nicholls is the highest in a match since 2018: (Tomar Thomas: 20 kills / .625 vs. Prairie View A&M) … Malinowska's 27 kills in a four-set win over Nicholls are the second most tallied in a four-set match in program history … Malinowska's 30 kills vs. Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 6 are the fourth most tallied in a five-set match in program history … Baker's 38 digs vs. UL Monroe are the most in a five-set match in program history surpassing the mark of 37 digs set by Kaeden Robinson in 2023 vs. Nicholls (Baker's 38 digs are currently tied for eighth most in a five-set match in Division I this season)  … Udegbunam's 14 total blocks vs. Texas Southern are the second most recorded in a five-set match in program history (Udegbunam's 14 total blocks are currently tied for fourth most in a five-set match in Division I this season) ... Gonzalez recorded 55 assists in a pair of four set matches vs. UIW and Nicholls, which is currently tied for 19th most in a four set match in Division I … Rhone's seven service aces vs. Nicholls on Nov. 1 are tied for the fourth most in a three set match in Division I this season.

THAT WINNING FEELING: LU is tied for the eighth longest active winning streak in Division I alongside Xavier … The Cardinals have recorded the fifth longest winning streak in program history … The last time LU finished the season with a 10-game winning streak was in 1979 and 1983 … In 16 seasons (2009-2024), the Cardinals had never posted a winning streak of more than five games.  

HOME SWEET HOME: LU is trying to post back-to-back seasons of .500 or better at home since 2018 (7-5) and 2019 (6-6) … Prior to 2018 and 2019, LU had not posted back-to-back seasons of .500 or better at home since 2014 (5-3) and 2015 (10-4) … LU has currently won five straight matches at home for the first time since 2015 … The Cardinals have gone 15-5 at home the last two seasons.

SUCCESS ON THE ROAD: LU is currently 6-5 on the road … The last time the Cardinals posted a winning record on the road was in 2007 (6-2).

GETTING RECOGNIZED: LU has had three players recognized as Southland Conference Players of the Week this season: Baker (Defensive Player of the Week / Sept. 22), Malinowska (Offensive Player of the Week / Oct. 20) and Gonzalez (Setter of the Week / Oct. 20).

MILESTONE MOMENT: LU had two setters eclipse the 1,000-assist career mark this season … Jo Moffitt reached 1,008 career assists in her three-year career while Gonzalez now has 1,712 in her two-year career.