LU Volleyball drops SLC match to N.W. State

BEAUMONT – This past Saturday, the Lamar volleyball team put together an outstanding comeback in a five-set victory over Southeastern Louisiana, but on Thursday evening, the Lady Cards fell victim to a comeback to lose 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 14-25, 11-15) to visiting Northwestern State at McDonald Gym.

Cortney Moore and Wendy Krell led the way for a Lady Cardinal offense that was out-hit .184 to .152. The duo combined for 28 kills with Moore totaling a .344 attack percentage. Sierra Whittaker also racked up double-digit kills with 12, and Alex Morford was responsible for quarterbacking the offense, dishing out 46 assists.

Defensively, Megan Schwartz put up another strong performance with 25 digs, and Whittaker added a career-high 22. Both Erika Rojas and Kensey Camp registered 12.

At the net, Krell led the blocking effort with seven, and Madi Martin added four. Both Moore and Whittaker each had three, but as a team the Lady Cards were out-blocked 11.0 to 10.0.

After falling 25-21 in the opening stanza, LU rebounded with a 25-22 decision in the second set, thanks in part to some clutch play by Whittaker. With the Lady Cards holding onto a slim 15-14 advantage, the junior racked up three kills and a service ace over the ensuing seven points to help the Lamar inch out to a 19-16 lead.

After the Lady Demons battled back to trim the deficit to one again at 21-20, Whittaker picked up two kills over a 3-1 spurt to set up the first of two match points, and Moore slammed the door with a kill to send the match into the break all even at 1-1.

The Lamar offense came out strong in the third, putting up 16 kills and hitting .314 to grab a slim 25-23 victory. The frame saw six ties but only one lead change as the Lady Cards battled back from an early deficit to take control at 10-9 on a Moore kill. It was tight for much of the frame, but after Camp picked up a kill to give LU a 14-13 lead, the Lady Demons were never able to crawl back.

A pair of big runs proved to be the difference in the fourth frame as NSU ran out to a 25-14 decision to force a deciding set for the second consecutive match.

There were six ties in the first 14 points of the fifth, but a Rojas service error handed the Lady Demons an 8-7 edge and they would never look back. It would serve as the impetus of a four-point run to give NSU a 13-9 lead. A Krell kill and Christina Hobbs ace appeared to put the Lady Cards back in business, but kills from Stacey DiFrancesco and Caiti O’Connell secured a 15-11 victory for the Lady Demons, their first over Lamar since the 2005 season.

LU will return to action on Saturday with a match against Stephen F. Austin. First serve is set for 1 p.m.