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 1,101 career points … Malinowska is 33 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 sixth in the Southland Conference with 210 kills and 234.5 points … Malinowska is second in the conference with 3.44 kills per set … She ranks second on the team with 163 digs … She is also closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing 181 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 2,128 career assists … Gonzalez leads the team with 321 assists and ranks 10th in the conference in the category.

PINPOINT SERVICE: Katelyn Hughes is tied for seventh in the Southland Conference with 17 service aces … Hughes also ranks second on the team with 298 assists and third with 111 digs … As a team, Lamar is eighth in the conference with 87 service aces … Madelynn Coy and Gonzalez are tied for eighth in the conference with 15 service aces apiece.

BEST IN BELIZE: Nisaan Martinez ranks second on the team with 192 kills and 44 total blocks … Martinez ranks ninth in the conference with 3.15 kills per set and is also ninth in kills and points with 217.

BLOCKING THE OPPOSITION: Saida Maksoud leads the team with 45 total blocks and is 10th in the conference … She is tied for ninth in the league with 43 block assists … As a team, Lamar ranks fourth in the conference with 191 block assists and seventh with 116.5 total blocks.

GO, GABBY, GO: Gabby Baker ranks eighth in the Southland Conference with 269 digs and fifth with 4.41 digs per set … Baker is 129 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 11-6 all-time in four-set matches.