The Lamar Lady Cardinals volleyball team represents Lamar University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Lady Cardinals compete in the Southland Conference and play their home games at McDonald Gym, an on campus facility in Beaumont, Texas. Ariel Apolinario was named head coach on January 5, 2024. He replaced former head coach Brandon Crisp who left the program on November 13, 2023.
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 (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 championship (1990), one Sun Belt Conference championship (1997), and two Southland Conference 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:
Year-by-year resultsSeasonConferenceCoachOverallConferenceNotes Games Win Loss Tie Games Win Loss TieAIAW Year-by-Year Results 1973 Claudia Perry 38 30 8 0 0 0 0 0 Results not available 1974 Claudia Perry 33 27 5 1 0 0 0 0 Results not available Claudia Perry 71 57 13 1 1975 Rosie Petty 62 54 7 1 0 0 0 0 Texas AIAW State Champions, 7th AIAW Nationals 1976 Rosie Petty 62 43 16 3 0 0 0 0 Southwest AIAW Region Champions, 9th AIAW Nationals 1977 Rosie Petty 58 47 10 1 0 0 0 0 Southwest AIAW Region Champions, 9th AIAW Nationals 1978 Rosie Petty 48 37 10 0 0 0 0 0 No results available Rosie Petty 229 181 43 5 1979 Linda Willis 49 37 12 0 0 0 0 0 No results available, 14 AIAW Nationals 1980 Linda Willis 59 26 33 0 0 0 0 0 Linda Willis 98 53 45 0 1981 Katrinka Crawford 48 23 25 0 0 0 0 0 AIAW Overall 446 314 126 6 NCAA Year-by-Year Results 1982 Southland Katrinka Crawford 57 22 35 0 6 4 2 0 1983 Southland Katrinka Crawford 55 33 22 0 3 3 0 0 1st Southland South Division, SLC Tournament Champions, 1st Round NCAA tournament 1984 Southland Katrinka Crawford 45 24 21 0 6 5 1 0 2nd Southland Conference, SLC Tournament Champions, 1st Round NCAA tournament 1985 Southland Katrinka Crawford 46 32 14 0 6 5 1 0 2nd Southland Conference 1987 American South Katrinka Crawford 38 20 18 0 6 6 0 0 1st American South Conference, American South tournament champions 1988 American South Katrinka Crawford 44 19 25 0 10 8 2 0 2nd American South Conference 1989 American South Katrinka Crawford 40 24 16 0 10 7 3 0 1990 American South Katrinka Crawford 44 30 14 0 12 11 1 0 American South Champions 1991 Sun Belt Katrinka Crawford 36 20 16 0 5 4 1 0 2nd Sun Belt West 1992 Sun Belt Katrinka Crawford 37 17 20 0 9 5 4 0 5th Sun Belt 1993 Sun Belt Katrinka Crawford 36 24 12 0 9 7 2 0 3rd Sun Belt, Sun Belt Tournament Champions, 1st round NCAA tournament 1994 Sun Belt Katrinka Crawford 29 12 17 0 9 6 3 0 5th Sun Belt 1995 Sun Belt Katrinka Crawford 35 13 22 0 9 5 4 0 4th Sun Belt Katrinka Crawford 590 313 277 0 100 76 24 0 1996 Sun Belt Jim Barnes 33 20 13 0 9 3 6 0 6th Sun Belt 1997 Sun Belt Jim Barnes 37 22 15 0 9 8 1 0 Sun Belt Champions 1998 Sun Belt Jim Barnes 31 19 12 0 20 11 9 0 6th Sun Belt 1999 Southland Jim Barnes 32 17 15 0 20 11 9 0 6th Southland 2000 Southland Jim Barnes 35 24 11 0 20 12 8 0 5th Southland 2001 Southland Jim Barnes 31 26 5 0 20 18 2 0 Southland Conference Champions Jim Barnes 199 128 71 0 98 63 35 0 2002 Southland Fiona Bolton-Simmons 33 26 7 0 20 17 3 0 2nd Southland 2003 Southland Fiona Bolton-Simmons 31 10 21 0 20 3 17 0 10th Southland 2004 Southland Fiona Bolton-Simmons 32 9 23 0 20 2 18 0 Fiona Bolton-Simmons 96 45 51 0 60 22 38 0 2005 Southland Justin Gilbert 29 8 21 0 16 6 10 0 8th Southland 2006 Southland Justin Gilbert 33 13 20 0 16 8 8 0 2nd Southland East 2007 Southland Justin Gilbert 34 25 9 0 16 15 1 0 Southland Conference Champions 2008 Southland Justin Gilbert 29 17 12 0 16 12 4 0 Southland Conference Tournament Champions, NCAA Tournament 1st round 2009 Southland Justin Gilbert 29 15 14 0 16 9 7 0 3rd Southland West 2010 Southland Justin Gilbert 29 13 16 0 16 8 8 0 2nd Southland East 2011 Southland Justin Gilbert 32 11 21 0 16 9 7 0 2nd Southland East 2012 Southland Justin Gilbert 32 10 22 0 18 2 16 0 9th Southland 2013 Southland Justin Gilbert 30 9 21 0 18 7 11 0 9th Southland Justin Gilbert 277 121 156 0 148 76 72 0 2014 Southland Alan Edwards 28 5 23 0 16 5 11 0 11th Southland 2015 Southland Alan Edwards 30 14 16 0 16 4 12 0 10th Southland 2016 Southland Alan Edwards 28 6 22 0 16 6 10 0 11th Southland 2017 Southland Alan Edwards 26 4 22 0 16 2 14 0 11th Southland Alan Edwards 112 29 83 0 64 17 47 0 2018 Southland Michelle Kuester 27 7 20 0 16 4 12 0 11th Southland 2019 Southland Michelle Kuester 26 9 17 0 16 4 12 0 12th Southland Michelle Kuester 53 16 37 0 32 8 24 0 2020 Southland Jordan Lay 17 1 16 0 12 1 11 0 12th Southland 2021 WAC Jordan Lay 26 4 22 0 12 0 12 0 6th WAC Southwest Division Jordan Lay 43 5 38 0 24 1 23 0 2022 Southland Brandon Crisp 21 8 13 0 10 2 8 0 10th Southland 2023 Southland Brandon Crisp 29 2 27 0 18 2 16 0 10th Southland Brandon Crisp 50 10 40 0 28 4 18 0 2024 Southland Ariel Apolinario Ariel Apolinario NCAA Overall 1370 644 726 0 552 267 288 0 TeamOverall 1818 952 856 6 554 267 286 0 (Results reflect games through November 11, 2023.)
Postseason NCAA Division I Tournament Source: The Lady Cardinals have appeared in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship four times. They have a record of 0–4. 1983 First round Texas L 0–3 1984 First round Texas L 0–3 1993 First round Arizona L 0–3 2008 First round Texas L 0–3
Home court While McDonald Gym has been home court since 2007, both McDonald Gym and the Montagne Center 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.
See also List of NCAA Division I women's volleyball programs
References
External links