The Lamar Lady Cardinals volleyball team represents

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...

in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I. The Lady Cardinals compete in the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

and play their home games at

McDonald Gym McDonald Gym, built in 1958, is located on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. The building was completely renovated in 2006-07 as part of the $17.8-million, 126,000 sq ft Sheila Umphrey Recreational Center project. The gym's sea ...

, an on campus facility in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

. Brandon Crisp was named head coach on July 15, 2022. He replaced former head coach Jordan Lay who left the program on May 5, 2022, for another position.

History

The Lady Cardinals have competed every season from 1973. Since 1982, the program has competed as an NCAA Division I program. From 1973 to 1981, the program competed in the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

(AIAW) (1973–1981). As an AIAW member, the Lady Cardinals won the state AIAW championship in 1975 and finished seventh in the AIAW Nationals. The team won regional AIAW championships in 1976 and 1977 finishing ninth in the AIAW Nationals both years and finished fourteenth in the AIAW Nationals in 1979. Competing as an NCAA Division I program, the team has won four regular season conference championships including one

American South Conference The American South Conference was an NCAA Division I athletic conference that existed from 1987–88 to 1990–91. The charter members were Arkansas State University, Lamar University, Louisiana Tech University, the University of New Orleans, the ...

championship (1990), one

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

championship (1997), and two

championships (2001, 2007). The team also won five conference tournament championships including three ''Southland Conference'' championships (1983, 1984, 2008), one ''American South Conference'' championship (1987), and one ''Sun Belt Conference'' championship (1993). The Lady Cardinals participated in the NCAA Division I Volleyball tournament four times (1983, 1984, 1993, 2008). Their best conference record was in 2007 with a 15–1 regular season ''Southland Conference'' championship record under head coach Justin Gilbert.

Awards and honors

AIAW All-Southwest Region

Source: * Lucy Wiggins, 1975 * Laura Broughton, 1976 * Kathy MacEachern, 1976 * Melonie Floyd, 1980, '81

American South Conference

Source:
1st Team all conference * Trisha Beissel, 1987 * Leanne Zeek, 1988, '89 * Cassi Presley, 1988 * Lisa Kachel, 1990 * Jenny Heisler, 1990 Tournament MVP * Trisha Beissel, 1987

Southland Conference

Source:
Player of the year * Liz Blue, 1983 * Natalie Sarver, 2002 * Molli Abel, 2007 Freshman of the year * Wendy Krell, 2009 * Cortney Moore, 2011 Newcomer of the year * Kathy Givens, 1983 * Trisha Beissel, 1984 * Charyl Norwood, 2000 * Shalayne Blythe, 2007 * Christine Hobbs, 2010 1st Team all conference * Liz Blue, 1983 * Ruby Randolph, 1984, '85 * Veronica Carter, 1984, '85 * Georgia Briones, 1986 * Tracy Turner, 1986 * Charyl Norwood, 2001 * Urissa White, 2001 * Natalie Sarver, 2001, '02 * Buchi Okoh, 2006 * Molli Abel, 2007 * Adrian Meengs, 2007, '09 * Kaci Brewer, 2007 * Lauren Holdorff, 2008 * Jayme Bazile, 2010 * Chelsea Grant, 2015, '16 Coach of the year * Katrinka Jo Crawford, 1983, '84 * Jim Barnes, 2001 * Justin Gilbert, 2007

Sun Belt Conference

Source:
Freshman of the year * Mirian Erikson, 1991 * Kim Green, 1992 Most outstanding player * Miriam Erikson, 1993 1st Team all conference * Mirian Erikson, 1992, '93 * Shawn Flowers, 1993 * Kim Green, 1994 * Meredith Terrell, 1997 * Jaime Ewing, 1997 Coach of the year * Jim Barnes, 1997

Year-by-year results

Source: (Results reflect games through October 20, 2022.)

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament

''Source'': The Lady Cardinals have appeared in the

NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship The NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event that leads to the championship in women's volleyball from teams in Division I contested by the NCAA each winter since 1981. Texas won the most recent tournament, defeating Louis ...

four times. They have a record of 0–4.

Home court

While McDonald Gym has been home court since 2007, both McDonald Gym and the

Montagne Center The Montagne Center, built in 1984, is a mixed-use Auxiliary/E&G event center that houses a 10,746-seat a multi-purpose arena and a variety of event spaces in Beaumont, Texas. The Montagne Center was designed especially for the basketball program ...

have served as home courts over the life of the program. The most recent move to the Montagne Center was when McDonald Gym was completely renovated in 2006-07 as part of the $17,800,000 126,000 sq ft Sheila Umphrey Recreational Center project. Following renovations, the volleyball team moved back to its current home, McDonald Gym. File:Sheila Umphrey Recreational Center and McDonald Gym.JPG, Sheila Umphrey Recreation Center and McDonald Gym File:McDonald Gym and the Sheila Umphrey Recreation Center.jpg, McDonald Gym and Sheila Umphrey Recreation Center File:LUCampusFullBloom.jpg, Montagne Center across the freeway

References

External links

Volleyball page

McDonald Gym
{{Lamar University Lamar Lady Cardinals volleyball Volleyball clubs established in 1973 1973 establishments in Texas