Aug. 21, 2010

BEAUMONT - Redshirt sophomore Tina Hobbs pounded out 16 kills on an impressive .652 hitting percentage Saturday in leading the Lamar volleyball team in its preseason match against a team of Lady Cardinal alumni.

Since it was an exhibition, the two teams played five sets with the current Lady Cardinals winning 4-1. The young Lady Cardinals came out slowly, losing 25-17, before using superior athleticism to win the next four sets.

"Of course we came out really nervous in the first game playing in front of a crowd," said Head Coach Justin Gibert, "but this will help us in our first real match on Friday. It's great to be here with all the alumni and it's great to use this match to get real experience and work out the jitters."

Hobbs and sophomore Jayme Bazile helped turn the tide for Lamar in the second set. The pair of middle blockers each hammered down five kills to lead Lamar to a 25-17 win and square the match at one.

"The offense got going and we were able to run our middles (blockers) which is key to our offense," Gibert said. "We missed too many serves, but our athleticism showed up and took over."

Game three also ended in a 25-17 score as Hobbs kept it going. The Alabama transfer, who sat out last season at Lamar due to injury, recorded six kills on 10 attacks with no hitting errors. Sophomore Cynthia McCollum chipped in with four of her 14 kills in game three.

With freshman Kaylee Piatt directing the offense from the setter position in set four, Lamar won easily by a 25-8 score. Fellow freshman Megan McStravick had her best set of the match, finishing with four kills and three digs.

The alumni, which featured at least six former all-conference players, played well in the fifth set before falling 15-13. Lady Cardinal volleyball fans got the chance to see recent players such as Adrianne Meengs, Buchi Okoh and Molli Abel.

Piatt and sophomore Alex Morford split time at setter, with Piatt finishing with 34 assists in three sets and Morford notching 21 in two sets played. McCollum had five of Lamar's 16 service aces and added nine digs.

Lamar finished the match with 62 kills, to the alumni's 32, and also finished with 9.5 blocks. Bazile, who added 11 kills, and Hobbs each had four blocks to pace the Lady Cardinals.

The Lady Cardinals will open the regular season on Friday morning at 10 a.m. against Oral Roberts in the first match of the Texas-Pan American Tournament. Lamar will play the host Broncs on Friday at 7 p.m., as well.

LAMAR