BEAUMONT, Texas — The road trip continues for the Lamar University volleyball team.

LU (4-3) travels to Huntsville on Tuesday for a midweek contest with former conference rival, Sam Houston State.

The Cardinals will then compete at the two-day Carrie Yerty Classic Friday-Saturday in Memphis, Tenn.
  Sam Houston State sports a 3-3 overall record. It began the season 1-2 after dropping a pair of five set matches to Southern Illinois and Tulane at the Bearkat Invitational.

The Bearkats notched their first win over McNeese in the form of a sweep.

This past weekend, Sam Houston State wrapped up a tournament in Nacogdoches going 2-1 with wins over Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin.

Freshman outside hitter Chloe Monson leads the offense with 91 kills while graduate student and outside hitter Lauren Malone is second with 81 kills.

Malone finished with 27 kills in the 3-1 win over SFA.

Senior setter Avery Fowler has tallied a team-high 200 assists and nine service aces.

Defensively, sophomore middle blocker Chelsea Butler has a team-high 17 total blocks and 14 block assists.

Sophomore defensive specialist / libero Shaelin White leads the way in the back row with 127 digs.

Sam Houston State returns five upperclassmen to go along with the 11 underclassmen.

The Bearkats finished the 2024 season with a 13-17 overall record while they went 8-10 in Conference USA play.

Finishing sixth in the conference standings, the Bearkats made their first trip to the conference tournament since 2021.

The last winning season for Sam Houston State came in 2021 when the program finished 18-10 overall and 10-3 in the Western Athletic Conference.

That season the Bearkats competed in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship tournament.

Sam Houston State head coach Brenda Gray enters her 42nd season at the helm since taking over in 1984.

She has accumulated a career record of 779-593. LU vs. SHSU: This is the 95th overall meeting … The Cardinals are 38-56 all-time against the Bearkats since the first meeting in 1976 … LU had lost seven straight games to SHSU until ending the drought with a five-set win in 2024 … The win in 2024 marked LU's first win in Huntsville since 2007 … It was also the first win overall over SHSU since 2015. Alexa Gonzalez was just 57 assists away from reaching 1,000 for her career.

Gonzalez finished the weekend with 65 assists to reach 1,008 career assists in her second year with LU.

MILESTONE WATCH: Maja Malinowska is 69 kills away from reaching 500 for her career … Lyric Jordan is 51 kills away from reaching 700 for her career … Taisha Rhone is five kills away from reaching 400 for her career.
Malinowska leads the Southland Conference in points (113) and kills (96). She averages 3.43 kills per set, which ranks fourth.

Daniella Udegbunam is first in the conference in solo blocks and second in total blocks. She currently has nine solo blocks and 27 total blocks.

Hailey McEllrath has 17 total blocks as she was ranked eighth in the Southland Conference.

Gonzales is tied for third in the conference in service aces.

Gabby Baker leads the Southland with 124 digs. She averages 4.43 digs per set, which is third best in the conference.

As a team, the Cardinals lead the conference in points (429), assists (308), kills (320), total blocks (63) and digs (480) while they are tied for first in service aces (46).

The Cardinals were also leading the league in digs with 480.

LU entered the week ranked nationally as a team in digs per set, currently tied for 23rd alongside Wichita State.

The Cardinals are also tied for ninth in the nation in team digs, tied for 20th in team total blocks and 21st in team total attacks.