CORPUS CHRISTI – The Lamar Cardinals put up a valiant battle, but lost three hard-fought sets to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the host Islanders claimed a 3-0 victory over LU in a Southland Conference women’s volleyball match Thursday evening.

The Islanders (9-10, 6-2 Southland) stayed near the top of the conference standings thanks to sweeping the Cardinals 25-23, 25-21, 25-20.

“We were right there,” LU coach Alan Edwards said. “We kept battling. I’m proud of them.”

Tomar Thomas and Ivette Dim had eight hits apiece for the Cardinals (3-13, 1-5), while Murielle Hlavac had six kills and eight digs. Amy Hollowell also had eight digs for the Cardinals. Haley Morton finished the night with 21 assists and six digs.

Edwards wanted his team to reduce the number of mistakes, and the Cardinals obliged, committing just 13 attack errors on the evening. Unfortunately for LU, the Islanders also avoided mistakes, committing just 14 attack errors. The difference was in the number of kills, as the Islanders had 43, while LU finished with 30.

Brittany Gilpin led the Islanders with 11 kills and only two errors in 24 attempts for a .375 hitting percentage. Madison Woods had 15 digs for the Islanders in the win, while Kristyn Nicholson was credited with 34 assists.
LU led 10-9 in the third set before the Islanders went on a 7-1 run to seize control. The Cardinals cut the lead to 22-20 before the Islanders closed out the night with the final three points.