BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University volleyball returns to the McDonald Gym for the official home opener Tuesday against Prairie View A&M.

The Cardinals wrapped their weekend trip going 1-2 at the Stetson Hatter Invitational in DeLand, Fla.

LU closed out the tourney with a five-set win over Stetson.

PANTHERS AT A GLANCE

The Panthers are 0-3 after competing at the EVEN Hotel Bobcat Invite in Bozeman, Mont.

Prairie View A&M fell in straight sets to the tourney host, Montana State, before dropping a four-set decision to Oregon.

In the match against Oregon, the Panthers avoided the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set.

The Panthers wrapped up the competition with a hard fought three-set loss to South Dakota, falling by the scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-19.

Senior outside hitter Kylee Owens has been the offensive leader with 37 kills. She tallied 14 in the match against Oregon.

D'Mya Hill, a junior outside hitter, ranks second on the offense with 38 kills.

Junior setter Tayler Ruffin has aided the offense with 64 assists.

Defensively, sophomore middle hitter Iyonna Sherwood has a team-high six total blocks while senior defensive specialist / outside hitter Leila Smalls leads the way in digs with 46.

Prairie View A&M's roster consists of eight upperclassmen and seven underclassmen.

Owens led the team in kills and service aces last fall with 375 and 48, respectively.

The Panthers went 17-16 overall and 13-3 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play in 2024. The program has gone 26-6 in conference play the last two seasons.

Head coach Dottie Hampton is in her first season after spending five seasons at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Hampton replaces Cheri Lindsay who led the Panthers to back-to-back winning seasons in 2023 and 2024. Lindsay is now the head coach at Memphis.

Prairie View A&M's last winning season came in 2008. HEAD-TO-HEAD

LU is 24-1 all-time against Prairie View A&M since the first meeting in 1987.

The Cardinals have won four of the last five meetings. Both teams met twice in 2024.

Prairie View A&M's lone win in the series was in 2022.

HOME SWEET HOME

Since 1980, the Cardinals have gone 27-18 in home openers.

This will be the fifth time since 1998 that LU is playing Prairie View A&M for its home opener. The Cardinals won all four meetings with the last coming in 2024.

LU has gone 20-5 in its home openers since 2000.

FAB FRESHMEN

LU's freshmen stepped up this past weekend.

Gabby Baker was named to the Stetson Hatter Invitational All-Tournament team after she recorded 54 digs, 16 assists, four service aces and one kill in three matches.

Baker led the defense with 18 digs in the match against Southern Miss while she also recorded eight assists and one kill.

Kinley Elms had 38 kills and eight total blocks. She currently ranks second on the team in kills while she's tied for third in total blocks.

Elms tallied a hitting percentage of .289 against Northern Illinois after finishing with 14 kills.

BY THE NUMBERS

Through three matches, the Cardinals rank first in assists (142) and first in digs (217) in the Southland Conference while they're second in points (193), kills (148) and total blocks (29).

Daniella Udegbunam is tied for second in the conference in total blocks (13) while Maja Malinowska is third in kills (41) and Alexa Gonzalez is tied for fifth in assists (69).