PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — Lamar University has won three of its last four matches in straight sets.
The Cardinals extended that trend Tuesday night, defeating Prairie View A&M, 25-15, 25-21, 25-23, at the William J. Nicks Building.
Lamar erased an early three-point deficit in the opening set, scoring four consecutive points to take a 4-3 lead.
Saida Maksoud sparked the rally with a kill while
Alexa Gonzalez added an ace.
After Prairie View A&M tied the score at 4-4, the Cardinals responded with a 4-0 run.
The Panthers answered with four of the next five points to pull within one, but Lamar regained control with five consecutive points to build a 14-9 advantage.
Grace Hill ignited the surge with a kill and an ace while
Rihanna Bryant and
Kinley Elms also recorded kills during the run.
The Cardinals continued to apply pressure, using back-to-back kills from Maksoud and Hill to push the lead to 10 points. Lamar closed out the set by scoring the final two points.
Lamar jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set behind kills from
Maja Malinowska, Bryant and Maksoud.
The Cardinals stretched the advantage to four with a 3-1 run fueled by a kill and an ace from Malinowska, along with a kill from
Nisaan Martinez.
Prairie View A&M slowly chipped away at the deficit and pulled within one before using a 6-1 run to take a 12-9 lead.
Lamar answered with a pivotal 5-0 run to regain control and build a 21-18 advantage. Elms recorded three kills during the surge.
The Panthers later closed within a point after scoring twice in a row, but the Cardinals responded with a 4-1 run to secure the set and a 2-0 match lead.
Martinez and Elms delivered the final two kills to seal the victory.
The third set featured six ties and remained close throughout.
Lamar opened with a 5-1 run fueled by three consecutive kills from Martinez and Malinowska.
Prairie View A&M answered with its longest surge of the match, scoring seven straight points to take a 14-11 lead.
The Cardinals responded by overcoming two ties and using a 6-1 run to build a two-point advantage.
Leila Ceaser recorded three kills during the stretch.
The set remained tightly contested down the stretch before Lamar secured the sweep with a 2-1 run. Martinez capped the victory with the match-clinching kill.
MATCH NOTES
- Martinez paced the Cardinals with 11 kills and has recorded 22 kills over her last two matches.
- Elms added seven kills, two block assists and an assist while Malinowska contributed six kills, two service aces and eight digs.
- Bryant finished with five kills and two block assists.
- Gonzalez directed the offense with 17 assists, two service aces and four digs while Katelyn Hughes chipped in 12 assists, an ace and three digs.
- Gabby Baker led the Cardinals defensively with 15 digs and added three assists.
- The Cardinals posted their second-highest hitting percentage of the season, recording a .252 attack percentage while finishing with 38 kills.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals return home Friday to host the Lamar Invitational, opening the tournament against North Dakota at 1 p.m. before facing UL Monroe at 7 p.m.
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