BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University moved into a tie for sixth place with rival McNeese in the Southland Conference standings Thursday night.
The Cardinals held off Nicholls in four sets, 25-18, 17-25, 25-19, 26-24, at McDonald Gym to earn a season split with the Colonels.
Lamar now sits one match behind fifth-place A&M-Corpus Christi and one match ahead of seventh-place Northwestern State.
In the opening set, the Cardinals broke a 5-5 tie and used a 9-0 run to build a 10-point advantage.
Grace Hill recorded three consecutive kills during the surge.
Nicholls answered with a 3-0 run and later outscored Lamar 4-1 to trim the deficit to five.
The Cardinals responded with a 4-2 stretch to regain a seven-point lead, with
Riley Johnson contributing two kills.
Nisaan Martinez added a kill before an attack error sealed the set for Lamar.
The Colonels opened the second set with five straight points.
Lamar pulled within two on back-to-back kills by Hill, but Nicholls answered with a 5-2 run to push the lead back to five.
The Colonels later used a 4-0 run to extend the margin to eight and closed the set by outscoring the Cardinals 4-2 to even the match.
Nicholls carried that momentum into the third set, racing to a 5-1 lead.
Lamar responded with eight consecutive points to take a four-point advantage in the middle of the frame, with Martinez recording two kills during the run.
The Colonels trimmed the deficit to two, but the Cardinals closed the set on a 5-1 run to take a 2-1 lead.
Maja Malinowska recorded three kills during the stretch, while Hill added a kill and
Addison Stanley delivered an ace.
The fourth set featured six ties.
Lamar scored the first four points and later used a 3-0 run to build a six-point lead.
Nicholls answered with a 5-1 run to pull within one before a 4-0 spurt gave the Colonels a 12-10 advantage.
The Cardinals responded with four unanswered points to retake control, as
Rihanna Bryant,
Kinley Elms and Malinowska each recorded a kill during the run.
After three ties late in the set, Lamar scored the final two points to secure the victory.
MATCH NOTES
- For only the fourth match this season, Lamar had three players in double figures in kills.
- Malinowska recorded her 12th double-double of the season, finishing with 18 kills, 10 digs, two assists and a block assist.
- Hill added 14 kills, six digs and a block assist, while Martinez chipped in 11 kills, four block assists, three digs and a solo block.
- Alexa Gonzalez and Katelyn Hughes each dished out 19 assists and served an ace. Gonzalez also contributed nine digs defensively.
- Baker anchored the defense with a match-high 20 digs and moved within seven of 1,000 career digs.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals return to action Saturday, Nov. 7, when they host McNeese in their home finale. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.
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