BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar will look to snap a three-match losing streak this week when it returns home to face Houston Christian and Incarnate Word.

After this week, only 10 matches will remain in the regular season, with just four of those contests scheduled at home.
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 1,070.5 career points … Malinowska is 61 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 seventh in the Southland Conference with 182 kills and 204 points … Malinowska is second in the conference with 3.43 kills per set … She ranks second on the team with 139 digs … She is also closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing 205 more to reach the milestone … Malinowska has recorded seven double-doubles this season and 38 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 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 2,087 career assists … Gonzalez leads the team with 259 assists.

PINPOINT SERVICE: Katelyn Hughes is sixth in the Southland Conference with 17 service aces … Hughes also ranks second on the team with 263 assists and third with 97 digs … As a team, Lamar ranks sixth in the conference with 78 service aces … Madelynn Coy, Hughes, Gonzalez and Malinowska have accounted for 55 of Lamar's 78 service aces this season.

BEST IN BELIZE: Nisaan Martinez ranks second on the team with 166 kills and 37 total blocks … Martinez ranks seventh in the Southland Conference with a .295 hitting percentage, eighth with 3.13 kills per set and 10th in total kills … Martinez was named the Best Opposite at the conclusion of the six-day 2026 NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup … The honor marks her fourth international award since 2024 … During that span, she has helped Belize win two gold medals and one bronze medal.

BLOCKING THE OPPOSITION: Saida Maksoud leads the team with 38 total blocks and ranks 10th in the Southland Conference … She is tied for seventh in the league with 37 block assists … As a team, Lamar ranks fourth in the conference with 167 block assists and seventh with 99.5 total blocks.

GO, GABBY, GO: Gabby Baker ranks eighth in the Southland Conference with 226 digs … Baker is 172 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 … Baker etched her name into the record book last season, recording 602 digs to tie Andrea Hamilton's single-season program record set in 2007.

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.

HUGE TURNAROUND: Third-year head coach Ariel Apolinario is looking to become the first coach in program history to record three consecutive winning seasons since Justin Gibert accomplished the feat from 2007-09 … Apolinario helped reverse a trend that saw the program endure 14 consecutive losing seasons from 2010-23.

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.
    CATCHING UP: The Huskies enter the week on a seven-game losing streak and carry a 2-14 overall record … Their only victories this season have come against Texas Southern and Southern.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Katy Barger, Jr., OH/RS (176 kills) | Sa'Myah Medford, Sr., OH (149 kills) | Enisilina Savelio, Sr., S (570 assists) | Allana Archie, Sr., MB and Malaya Balina-Ayers, Fr., MB (43 total blocks) | Bianca Byerly, Jr., DS/L (257 digs).

RECAPPING LAST SEASON: Houston Christian finished the season 12-18 overall and tied for seventh in the Southland Conference with a 7-9 league record.
  Lamar vs. Houston Christian: The Cardinals are 9-15 all-time in the series against Houston Christian since the first meeting in 1986 … Lamar defeated the Huskies in four sets at home last season marking the program's first win over Houston Christian since Nov. 1, 2016.   CATCHING UP: Incarnate Word enters the week having won three of its last four matches and carries a 5-8 overall record after posting a 2-7 mark in nonconference play.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kitana Tu'ufuli, Sr., OH/OPP (166 kills) | Calissa Allison, Jr., RS/S (310 assists) | Ashton Rogers, So., L (231 digs) | Sofia Grimm, Sr., MB/OPP (37 total blocks).

RECAPPING LAST SEASON: The Cardinals finished 17-11 overall and 9-7 in Southland Conference play to earn the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.
Lamar vs. Incarnate Word: Lamar is 4-14 all-time against Incarnate Word since the series began in 2013 … Lamar's four-set victory over UIW during the 2025 regular season was its first win against UIW since Sept. 25, 2018.