BEAUMONT, Texas — On Saturday afternoon, the Lamar University volleyball team takes on Texas State for an exhibition match, kicking off the 2025 season under second-year head coach Ariel Apolinario.

CARDINALS AT A GLANCE

LU returns 11 players from a team that finished 15-14 last season, marking the program's first winning record since 2009.

Maja Malinowska, the offense's leader last season with 335 kills and 379 points, is one key returner along with Alexa Gonzalez who led the way with 857 assists and 40 service aces.

One key defensive returner includes Keeley Nellis who tallied a team-high 421 digs while she ranked second on the team in service aces with 33. LU also returns Ashlyn Gamble, last season's leading blocker with 82 total blocks. 

The Cardinals placed seventh in the Southland Conference to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2011.

Of the 11 returning letterwinners, five are upperclassmen and six are underclassmen. The five upperclassmen are Emily Moon, Jo Moffitt, Taisha Rhone, Lyric Jordan and Sydnee Griffen.

Jordan ranked second on the team in kills (317) last fall while Moffitt was second in assists (100).

LU added six new players which includes a pair of transfers Daniella Udegbunam (Missouri State) and Riley Johnson (Arkansas — Pine Bluff / UC Riverside). The four other additions include freshmen Kinley Elms, Ceci Bustamante, Gabby Baker and Gizem Eroglu. 

COMPETING ON THE WORLD STAGE

Malinowska represented her home country of Poland at the recent 21 and under Federation of International Volleyball World Championship in Surabaya, Indonesia.

She played in three matches where she tallied nine points, six kills, three service aces and nine digs.

Malinowska recorded four kills and one service ace in a sweep of Algeria while she had two kills during a five-set match against Italy.

Poland finished sixth in the final standings out of 24 countries.

NEW FACES ON THE STAFF

Coach Apolinario made some adjustments to his staff over the offseason.

He added associate head coach Andrew Strick who spent the last six seasons at Tennessee. Strick also worked with both the men's and women's U.S. national teams. He got an opportunity to travel with the men's national team to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he served as a scout and statistician.

Keishla "Kiki" Reyes enters her third season on the staff as she was moved up to an assistant coach after spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons as a graduate assistant.

Hannah Thompson takes over as the graduate manager. Thompson attended Division II Texas A&M International where she played for three years wrapping up her career in 2023 as an opposite and middle blocker.

LOOKING AHEAD

This will be the final tune up before the Cardinals travel to DeLand, Fla., for the Stetson Hatter Invitational where they open the tournament with two matches on Friday, Aug. 29 against Northern Illinois at 11 a.m. and Southern Miss at 2:30 p.m.

LU has 11 home games which includes nonconference action against Prairie View A&M, Cal State Fullerton, Texas Southern and Abilene Christian. The annual Lamar Invitational is Sept. 19-20 with four matches on slate for the first day of competition.

The Cards also travel to Tulane's Green Wave Invitational from Sept. 5-7 while they are also competing in the Carrie Yerty Classic from Sept. 12-13 in Memphis, Tenn., to round out the tournament action.

Southland Conference play begins Wednesday, Sept. 24 on the road against UTRGV.

BOBCATS AT A GLANCE

Texas State is the defending Sun Belt tournament champion after going 22-9 overall and 13-3 in conference play in 2024.

The Bobcats have made two consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament in 2023 and 2024.

Texas State was picked to win the Sun Belt's West Division while it also had two players selected to the preseason all-conference team (Jade Defraeye and Sam Wunsch).

Wunsch was the team leader in kills with 402 while Defraeye led the defense with 135 total blocks. 

Head coach Sean Huiet returns for his sixth season as he sports a 117-47 overall record and a 68-12 mark in conference play.

Texas State is set to join the Pac-12 Conference next year after being in the Sun Belt since 2013.