HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Riding the momentum of a season-opening sweep of Southern earlier in the day, Lamar University turned its attention to host Southern Miss in Friday night's finale.
The Cardinals battled in a tightly contested fourth set but ultimately fell to the Golden Eagles in four sets, 25-14, 23-25, 25-18, 31-29, at the Southern Miss Wellness Center.
Southern Miss seized control early, scoring the first six points of the opening set.
The Golden Eagles never trailed and used a 5-1 run midway through the frame to stretch their advantage to seven points.
A late 5-0 surge pushed Southern Miss' lead to 12, allowing the Golden Eagles to secure the opening set.
The second set featured seven ties before Lamar created separation with a four-point run to take an 11-7 lead.
Grace Hill and
Saida Maksoud sparked the surge with a pair of kills.
Southern Miss answered with three straight points to pull within one, but the Cardinals responded with a 5-1 run to extend their advantage to five.
Nisaan Martinez and Hill fueled the stretch with two kills apiece.
Lamar built its lead to as many as six following back-to-back kills from
Maja Malinowska.
The Golden Eagles rallied late, using a 4-1 run before scoring three consecutive points to even the set at 23-23.
The Cardinals closed the set with the final two points to knot the match at one set apiece.
Kinley Elms recorded a kill during the decisive run.
The third set was tightly contested early, featuring eight ties before Southern Miss used an 11-2 run to build a commanding nine-point advantage.
Lamar answered with a 4-1 spurt to trim the deficit to six, fueled by two kills from Malinowska.
The Golden Eagles, however, maintained control and closed out the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle, featuring 19 ties and seven lead changes.
Lamar erased an early two-point deficit with a 3-0 run to take the lead.
Malinowska recorded a kill while
Alexa Gonzalez added consecutive service aces during the stretch.
After two more ties, the Cardinals rattled off four straight points to build a 15-12 advantage.
Southern Miss trimmed the deficit to one, and the lead changed hands several times down the stretch before the Golden Eagles closed the match with a decisive 3-0 run to secure the victory.
MATCH NOTES
- Malinowska recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 14 kills and 12 digs.
- Hill matched Malinowska with a season-high 14 kills while adding four block assists and six digs.
- Martinez contributed six kills and two block assists while Maksoud totaled five kills and three block assists.
- Elms chipped in four kills and four block assists.
- At the net, Lamar held a 20-14 advantage in blocks over Southern Miss.
- Katelyn Hughes notched her second double-double of the season with 16 assists and 13 digs while adding two service aces.
- Gonzalez also dished out 16 assists and contributed two aces, one block assist and three digs.
- Defensively, Rihanna Bryant led the Cardinals with five block assists while Gabby Baker posted a team-high 21 digs to go along with five assists.
UP NEXT
Lamar closes out the Southern Miss Invitational against Jackson State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
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