Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT – The Lamar women’s volleyball team has a hunger that can’t be satisfied by a trip to the campus dining hall, but by a journey to the Southland Conference Tournament instead.

The Cardinals haven’t been to the conference tournament since 2011, and haven’t hoisted the tourney trophy since 2008. Fourth-year head coach Alan Edwards is hopeful this is the year LU is one of the eight teams at the tournament dining table.

“We have a group of kids who aren’t satisfied,” Edwards said. “That comes from not having won a championship since 2008 and not having been to the tournament in five years.”

The Cardinals just missed out on going to the tournament last season, being the odd team out after finishing in a three-way tie with McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana for the final two tournament berths. The Cardinals went 6-10 in the conference, with five of those losses coming in five sets, including setbacks to McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana. Winning just one of those five matches would have secured a tournament berth for LU.

“This team has spent the last nine months talking about that,” Edwards said. “They want to be tougher. I think we’re considerably better than last season, and we have a lot more of a team-first mentality.”

Whetting the Cardinals’ appetite even more is the fact that LU was picked to finish 10th in the 13-team conference. The top eight teams qualify for the tournament.

“I’m sure being picked 10th motivates them,” Edwards said. “I believe we’re better than that, but it’s a reasonable pick. We missed the tournament last season and our all-conference player graduated. I understand that.”

Edwards was referring to Chelsea Grant, a two-time first-team All-Southland Conference selection. Grant, who graduated last season, led the Cardinals with 412 kills and 1,048 total attempts. She was second with seven solo blocks and among the team leaders with 50 total blocks.

“We have to fill the void left by someone who took so many swings, but I think we are deeper than we were last season,” Edwards said. “We don’t have to rely on just one player.”

One of the hitters they will rely on is junior Tomar Thomas, who was second on the Cardinals with 181 kills last season. Also back are junior Murielle Hlavac (170 kills), senior Amy Hollowell (160 kills) and junior Ivette Dim (142 kills).

Senior setter Haley Morton had 744 assists last season to lead the Cardinals. Junior Monica Strohschein, who was an outside hitter last season, is expected to see some action as a setter this season. Adding depth is freshman setter Molly Shade.

“You’ll see a more rounded attack this season,” Edwards said. “They’re all pushing each other to make everybody better.”

The Cardinals open their season at the Big Orange Bash, hosted by Clemson University, on Friday. LU faces Jacksonville on Friday before taking on Bethune-Cookman and Clemson on Saturday.

“Nobody knows what the other teams will look like at the start of the season,” Edwards said. “I doubt we will look very much the same as last year.”

Following the tournament at Clemson, the Cardinals return home to host Southern, Texas Southern and Louisiana Tech in the Cardinal Classic set for Sept. 1-2 at McDonald Gym.

“Last year, we weren’t able to host a tournament, so we were on the road for the first 15 matches of the season, which was tough,” Edwards said. “We lost our first 13 before we won. This season, we hope to get that first win under our belt as soon as possible.”

Season tickets and individual-match tickets are now available by calling 409-880-1715, or by visiting www.LamarCardinals.com. Presale tickets are also available at the Montagne Center ticket office. Tickets will be available at McDonald Gym one hour prior to first serve on match days.