Lamar Wins Southland Volleyball Title
Lamar 3, Texas State 2
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Lamar University volleyball team used their best defensive effort of the season to power their way to the Southland Conference Tournament championship with a 3-2 win over Texas State at Johnson Coliseum on the campus of Stephen F. Austin.
With the victory the Lady Cardinals punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the fist time since the 1993 season when they were Sunbelt Conference champions. This is Lamar's first Southland Conference Tournament title since the 1984 season.
"This was a great match between the two best teams in the league," head coach Justin Gibert said. "We knew coming in that it was going to be a battle out there, and we were going to have to play our best. We rose to the occasion and now were going to the NCAA Tournament."
After a grueling four sets the Lady Cardinals and Texas State squared off in the fifth set with the championship on the line. After Lamar jumped up 9-6, the Bobcats responded with a 5-1 run to take an 11-10 lead. Lamar didn't hang their heads after the Texas State run, responding with their own 5-1 run to close out the match with a 15-12 win.
The final point of the match came off of a diving dig by Meagan Adams that rolled over the net and fell to the feet of three Bobcats. The hustling play epitomized the Lady Cardinals defensive effort during match and the entire the tournament, as it gave LU their season-high 94th dig of the match.
"These two teams have the two most high powered offenses on the league, and we knew this match would come down to who did the most to slow the other team down," Gibert said. "I think we really disrupted their offense today and it was one of the biggest keys to winning."
The Lady Cardinals opened the match with a 25-22 victory, behind the strong offensive play of Kaci Brewer and the defense of Bailey Smith. Lamar never trailed in the opening set, jumping out to an early 10-4 lead and holding off a late Texas State rally. Brewer had five kills with a .308 hitting percentage and Smith tallied seven digs.
In the second set the Lady Cards jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but the Bobcats would not allow LU to put things out of reach. With the set tied at 8-8 Texas State methodically opened up a four point lead at 19-15 and held on for a 25-20 win.
In the third set Lamar unleashed an offensive attack that the Bobcats could not slow down, hitting .447 while Texas State managed to hit just .129. The Lady Cards rolled to a 25-14 win in the third frame and appeared to be in position to close out the match heading to set four.
Texas State, however, took the fourth set in dramatic fashion, outlasting Lamar for a 30-28 win. The Bobcats had a 23-20 lead, but LU climbed back with to tie the set at 24-24 before the teams traded points back and forth before Texas State claimed the victory.
Brewer, who was named the tournament most valuable player after posting a double-double in all three matches Lamar played in, led the way for the Lady Cards with 18 kills and 19 digs while hitting a blistering .340 in 47 swings.
"Kaci was the best player in this tournament and she deserved to be named the MVP," Gibert said. "She carried us today and she really came up huge when we needed her to."
Adams and setter Adrianne Meengs joined Brewer with double-doubles in the match, as Adams finished with 14 kills and 12 digs while posting a match-best and career-high .542. Meengs, who was named to the all-tournament team, passed out a season-high 58 assists, one shy of a career-high, and 10 digs.
Shalayne Blythe, who was the third Lady Cardinals named to the all-tournament team, finished with 14 kills and a .282 hitting percentage, while Lauren Holdorff had 10 kills with a .304 hitting percentage.
"Everyone on this team played fantastic today," Gibert said. "Ady and Shalayne were great the entire tournament, which is why they got honored. They deserve the honors they received, but this championship was won as a team."
The defense was anchored by Bailey Smith and Andrea Hamilton who collected 18 digs and 13 digs respectively. The 13 digs by Hamilton propelled her to third on the schools all time digs list.
As a team the Lady Cardinals posted a .275 hitting percentage with 70 kills and 17 errors on 193 swings, while Texas State hit .225 with 61 kills and 19 errors on 187 swings. Lamar also won the battle at the net, posting seven blocks while the Bobcats posted six.