Oct. 30, 2008

BEAUMONT, Texas - The Lamar University volleyball team takes to the road for the final time in the regular season for a pair of matches against Southland Conference West Division foes Texas A&M Corpus Christi and UTSA on Friday and Saturday

The Lady Cardinals begin their weekend on Friday night with a 7 p.m. match against the Islanders in Corpus Christi, Texas and will close out the trip with a 2 p.m. showdown at UTSA on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Cardinals enter Friday's match with an 8-8 overall record and a 6-1 mark in SLC play after winning their last four matches. Lamar's four wins in that streak have come against UTSA, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana.

The Lady Cards are led by Shalayne Blythe's 2.28 kills and 0.77 blocks per set, while Genevieve Gladle who is averaging 2.16 kills and 2.88 digs per set. Lauren Holdorff is averaging 2.11 kills and a team-high 0.89 blocks per set while ranking second in the Southland Conference in hitting percentage in league play at .405. Ashley Todd has paced the LU attack with 9.64 assists per set and Andrea Hamilton leads the defense with 3.63 digs per set.

Texas A&M Corpus Christi enters Friday's match with a 3-16 overall record and a 1-8 mark in SLC play. The Islanders are led by Lauren Paslay's 3.04 kills per set while Molly McCabe is averaging 9.55 assists per set. The TAMUCC defense is led by Kandyce Nielson who is averaging 3.85 digs per set.

UTSA enters the weekend with at 15-8 overall record and 7-2 mark in Southland Conference play. The Roadrunners are led by Kendra Rowland who is averaging 3.78 kills per match while Elise Huskey is averaging 2.33 kills per match. The setting duties for UTSA have been handled by Amber Brooks who is averaging 9.22 assists per set while the defense is led by Kelsey Jewasko's 4.36 digs per set.

After the weekend series against A&M Corpus Christi and UTSA the Lady Cardinals will return home for their final four matches of the regular season, beginning with Texas State on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.