Oct. 11, 2007

BEAUMONT - Riding a month-long winning streak and an undefeated start to Southland Conference play, the Lamar University volleyball team will host a pair of weekend matches against Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana on Friday at Saturday at McDonald Gym.

The Lady Cardinals open the weekend with a 7 p.m. showdown against the Lady Colonels, who enter the match with a 2-3 record in SLC play and an 8-13 record overall. Lamar will close out the weekend on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Lady Lions, 8-8 overall and 0-5 in SLC play, at 3:00.

The last time the Lady Cardinals took the floor they defeated McNeese State 3-0 to close out the first half of play against the SLC East undefeated. Lamar has not lost a match since September 8, when they dropped a 3-2 decision to the University of New Orleans at the TCU tournament in Fort Worth. During their 10-match win streak, they have dropped just 4 games.

The LU offense, which ranks first in the SLC, is led by senior Molli Abel's 3.23 kills per game while posting 1.17 blocks per game. Sophomore Kaci Brewer has also been a mainstay in the LU offense posting 3.06 kills per game, while freshman Destiny Mason has averaged 2.34 kills and 3.11 digs per game. Sophomore setter Adrianne Meengs has also been solid, passing out 11.06 assists and knocking down 2.09 kills per game while the Lamar defense is anchored by junior Andrea Hamilton, who is averaging 4.81 digs per game.

Nicholls State is led by Rachel Spreen and Kindra Halverson who are averaging 2.72 and 2.70 kills per game respectively, while setter Amy Whitehead has passed out 8.62 assists per game. The Lady Colonel defense is led by Enjoli Ford who is averaging 5.41 digs per game.

Southeastern Louisiana is led by Melissa Jones who is averaging 2.31 kills per game, while Lauren Mayer and Emily Jordan are averaging 2.22 kills per game respectively. The Lady Lion offense is set up by Maddie Beebe 5.94 assists per game, while their defense is led by Teri Byrum's 3.20 digs per game.

After this weekends matches against Nicholls and Southeastern, the Lady Cardinals will be in action again on Friday October 19, when they host SLC West foe Texas State at 7 p.m. at McDonald Gym.