BEAUMONT, Texas — As Southland Conference play enters the final week of the regular season, the playoff picture remains congested.

Two teams are tied for first place, while two teams are tied for fifth and eighth.

Lamar closes out the regular season on the road, opening the week Thursday at LSU New Orleans before wrapping up the regular season Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana.
PLAYOFF SCENARIO: The Cardinals own the head-to-head tiebreaker over A&M-Corpus Christi, Northwestern State, East Texas A&M and Houston Christian.

• With a win over Southeastern and a loss by A&M-Corpus Christi, Lamar's highest possible finish is sixth place.
• A loss to Southeastern locks the Cardinals into seventh place.

REACHING A MILESTONE: The Cardinals have celebrated four career milestones this season.

• Maja Malinowska surpassed both 1,000 career points and 1,000 career kills this season, becoming the first Cardinal to reach the 1,000-kill mark since Chelsea Grant recorded 1,100 kills from 2013-16.
• Malinowska enters the week with 1,253.5 career points and 1,101 kills.
• She became the 21st player in program history to join Lamar's 1,000-kill club and is 121 kills shy of tying Leanne Zeek (1986-89) for 10th place on the school's all-time list with 1,222 career kills.
• Alexa Gonzalez became the first Cardinal since Haley Morton (2015-17) to record 2,000 career assists.
• Gonzalez is the 13th player in program history to reach the 2,000-assist milestone.
• She enters the week with 2,314 career assists, moving her up to 10th on Lamar's all-time assists list.
• Gabby Baker joined Lamar's 1,000-dig club Saturday as she enters the week with 1,039 career digs.
• Baker is the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs and the first Cardinal to accomplish the feat since Megan Schwartz (2010-14).
• Baker is 193 digs away from tying Shawn Flowers (1989-94) for 10th on Lamar's all-time digs list at 1,232.

Two more career milestones could be reached as Grace Hill closes in on 1,000 career points and Malinowska closes in on 1,000 career digs.

• Hill enters the week with 963 career points and needs 37 more to become the next Cardinal to reach the 1,000-point mark.
• Malinowska enters the week with 916 career digs and needs 84 more to become the next Cardinal to reach the 1,000-dig mark.

OFFENSIVE CATALYSTS:

• Malinowska and Nisaan Martinez have powered the Lamar offense all season, combining for 658 of the Cardinals' 1,213 kills.
• Malinowska leads the team with 344 kills, 387 points, 3.7 kills per set and 4.1 points per set.
• She is third on the team with 22 service aces, ranks second with 260 digs and is third with 38 total blocks.
• Malinowska has recorded 14 double-doubles this season and 45 during her career.
• She has posted double-digit kills in 20 matches, including a season-high 25 kills in a five-set loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 26.
• Among Southland Conference leaders, Malinowska ranks first in kills per set, second in points per set, third in total kills, fourth in total points and 10th in service aces.
• Martinez ranks second on the team with 314 kills, 350 points and 65 total blocks.
• She has recorded double-digit kills in 17 matches, including a season-high 20 kills most recently occurring in a four-set win over Northwestern State on Oct. 21.
• Among Cardinals who have appeared in at least 20 matches this season, Martinez leads the team with a .281 hitting percentage.
• Martinez ranks fifth in the Southland in kills per set (3.3), seventh in total kills and eighth in total points.

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 during the week.

GO, GABBY GO:

• Baker ranks fourth in the Southland with 4.7 digs per set and seventh with 437 total digs.
• She is now tied for ninth in single season digs with 437, alongside Andrea Hamilton (2006).
• Baker has already cemented her place in the Lamar record book. As a freshman in 2025, she recorded 602 digs, tying Andrea Hamilton's program single season record set in 2007.

BLOCKING THE OPPOSITION:

• Saida Maksoud has anchored Lamar's defense at the net this season, leading the team with 81 total blocks, including 70 block assists and 11 solo blocks.
• Maksoud is tied for third in the Southland with 1.07 blocks per set. She is also ninth in solo blocks, ninth in block assists and 10th in total blocks.
• Offensively, Maksoud has added 69 kills, 14 service aces and a .260 hitting percentage.

SETTING THINGS UP:

• The Cardinals have relied on a two-setter system throughout the season, with Gonzalez and Katelyn Hughes combining for 962 of Lamar's 1,141 assists.
• Gonzalez leads the team with 507 assists, averaging 5.3 assists per set, and tops the Cardinals with 27 service aces. She ranks third with 181 digs.
• She has recorded 24 career double-doubles, including four this season.
• Gonzalez has posted 20 or more assists in eight matches, highlighted by a season-high 27 assists recorded twice and most recently in a four-set win over LSU-New Orleans on Nov. 13.
• Among Southland Conference leaders, Gonzalez ranks eighth in total assists, 10th in service aces and 10th in assists per set.
• Hughes ranks second on the team with 455 assists and averages 5.0 assists per set.
• She is second on the team with 23 service aces.
• Hughes has recorded 20 or more assists in eight matches, including a season-high 28 assists in a five-set loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 26.
• Hughes has registered seven double-doubles this season.

TEAM MILESTONES:

• Head coach Ariel Apolinario has posted a 19-13 record at home over the past three seasons, becoming the first Lamar head coach to record a winning home mark through three seasons since Justin Gibert went 20-6 from 2008-10.
• The Cardinals are seeking their third consecutive Southland Conference tournament appearance, which would mark the program's first streak of three straight postseason berths since 2009-11.
• Lamar's sweep of LSU New Orleans in the conference opener on Sept. 24 marked the program's first conference-opening victory since Sept. 25, 2018, snapping a seven-match losing streak in conference openers.

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Southeastern                16-12 (13-2)
    Incarnate Word             15-9 (13-2)
3. Stephen F. Austin          18-10 (12-3)
4. UT Rio Grande Valley    14-12 (10-5)
5. A&M-Corpus Christi       10-16 (8-7)
    McNeese                       12-14 (8-7)
7. Lamar                            10-18 (7-8)
8. Northwestern State        14-16 (6-9)
    East Texas A&M             12-16 (6-9)
10. Houston Christian         6-21 (4-11)
11. Nicholls                         9-19 (2-13)
12. LSU New Orleans        3-25 (1-14)    CATCHING UP: Despite dropping its last three matches, LSU New Orleans has remained competitive, winning a set against both Southeastern Louisiana and UTRGV … The Privateers also snapped a 12-match losing streak Oct. 29 with a road sweep of Nicholls.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Armie Hall, Fr., RS (323 kills | 64 total blocks) | Defne Eciroglu, Sr., S (410 assists) | Mia Lopez, Fr., L/DS (310 digs) | Nyakuak Lual, Jr., MB (89 total blocks).
LU vs. LSU New Orleans: This will be the 58th meeting between the programs since 1980 ... Lamar holds a 35-23 advantage in the series and has won five of the last six matchups … The Cardinals defeated the Privateers twice in the same season for the first time since 2024.  
CATCHING UP: Southeastern Louisiana has won 13 of its last 14 matches and enters the week riding a four-match winning streak … The Lions can secure both the Southland Conference regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a victory over Lamar on Saturday … The Lions' turnaround has been one of the league's biggest stories … After opening the season 4-11 in nonconference play and enduring a six-match losing streak, the Lions responded by winning nine straight matches, including four five-set victories.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kyra McKelvey, Sr., OPP (Leads the Southland with 383 kills and 435.5 points) | Ashley Richardson, Jr., S (767 assists) | Melina Gonzalez, Fr., OH (257 digs | 32 service aces) | Gracie Brown, So., MB (86 total blocks).