BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University continues a challenging stretch with a three-match road trip against A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Rio Grande Valley and Northwestern State.

With 10 matches remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals are in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Southland Conference.
OFFENSIVE CATALYST: Maja Malinowska reached the 1,000-point milestone this season … Entering the match against Sam Houston needing five points to reach the mark, she recorded 11 points to raise her career total to 1,006 … She currently has 1,123 career points … Malinowska is 15 kills away from reaching the 1,000-career-kill milestone … Chelsea Grant was the last Cardinal to surpass the 1,000-kill milestone, recording 1,100 career kills from 2013-16 … Malinowska ranks fifth in the Southland Conference with 228 kills and 256.5 points … Malinowska is second in the conference with 3.51 kills per set … She ranks second on the team with 172 digs … She is also closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing 172 more to reach the milestone … Malinowska has recorded eight double-doubles this season and 39 in her career.

GETTING RECOGNIZED: Malinowska earned her fifth career Southland Conference Player of the Week honor after being named the league's Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28 ... She recorded 41 kills, 17 digs, two assists and two service aces across two matches while averaging 5.1 kills per set.

SETTING THINGS UP: Alexa Gonzalez joined the 2,000-assist club, recording 54 assists during the Lamar Invitational to increase her career total to 2,018 … She is the first Cardinal to reach the milestone since Haley Morton, who finished with 2,112 assists from 2015-17 … Gonzalez currently ranks 11th in program history with 2,148 career assists … Gonzalez leads the team with 341 assists and ranks ninth in the conference in the category.

PINPOINT SERVICE: Katelyn Hughes and Madelynn Coy are tied for eighth in the Southland Conference with 18 service aces … Hughes also ranks second on the team with 319 assists and third with 114 digs … As a team, Lamar is seventh in the conference with 97 service aces.

BEST IN BELIZE: Nisaan Martinez ranks second on the team with 208 kills and 47 total blocks … Martinez ranks eighth in the conference with 3.20 kills per set and is also ninth in kills and points with 234.5.

BLOCKING THE OPPOSITION: Saida Maksoud leads the team with 52 total blocks and is 10th in the conference … She is ninth in the league with 46 block assists … As a team, Lamar ranks fourth in the conference with 207 block assists and sixth with 129.5 total blocks.

GO, GABBY, GO: Gabby Baker ranks fifth in the Southland Conference with 296 digs and fifth with 4.55 digs per set … Baker is 102 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career … Megan Schwartz is the last Cardinal to record 1,000 career digs, totaling 1,283 from 2010-14.

CONFERENCE OPENER: Lamar's sweep of LSU New Orleans marked the program's first conference-opening victory since Sept. 25, 2018, when the Cardinals defeated Incarnate Word in four sets at home.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Cardinals are looking to secure three consecutive winning seasons at home for the first time since 2008-10 … Lamar has already posted back-to-back winning home campaigns for the first time since 2014-15, compiling a 15-6 record during that span.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Head coach Ariel Apolinario is 8-6 in five-set matches during his three-year career and 12-6 all-time in four-set matches.