EDINBURG, Texas — Lamar volleyball was trying to keep the momentum moving forward into the Southland Conference opener Wednesday afternoon against UT Rio Grande Valley.

The Vaqueros ended up coming away with the sweep at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Jo Moffitt reached a career milestone with 1,000 career assists. She was just 10 away from eclipsing the mark.

UTRGV began the first set scoring six unanswered points.

The Cardinals cut the deficit to three points with a 3-0 run that saw two kills from Maja Malinowska.

UTRGV outscored LU, 6-2, to increase its lead to eight in the middle of the set.

LU put together a solid 5-0 run to get within two points. Malinowska tallied three kills during the run while Taisha Rhone had one.

The Vaqueros ended up outscoring the Cardinals, 5-2, down the stretch to pull away with the five-point win.

LU flipped the script to start the second set when it took a 5-2 lead after putting together a 5-0 run.

Lyric Jordan had three straight kills during the run while Malinowska served up an ace.

The Cardinals held a four-point lead after Rhone tallied another kill.

UTRGV turned the tide in the middle of the set when it went on a 6-1 run to take a six-point lead.

LU managed to cut the deficit to four after Malinowska and Daniella Udegbunam teamed up for a block.

The Vaqueros closed things out on a 3-1 run to take the 2-0 advantage in the match.

LU once again came out with the early lead to start the third set after going on a 3-0 run that began with a kill by Kinley Elms.

Things then went in favor of the Vaqueros as they went on an 8-1 run to take a four-point lead.

The Cardinals took advantage of two attack errors and a service error to get back within one, but UTRGV responded with a 5-0 run to up its lead to six.

UTRGV was in control for the rest of the set.

MATCH NOTES

• Malinowska finished with seven kills, one service ace, three block assists and nine digs.
• Jordan also added seven kills.
• Rhone had six kills and one block assist.
• Elms tallied six kills.
• Hailey McEllrath finished with five total blocks, three digs and a kill.
• Moffitt tallied 12 assists and three digs.
• Moffitt entered the match with 990 career assists. She now has 1,002 in her three-year career.
• Alexa Gonzalez had 10 assists and one dig.
• Gabby Baker led the back row with 12 digs while Keeley Nellis had six.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals return home to take on A&M-Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.