LAKE CHARLES--  McNeese volleyball made its delayed home opener a good one here Monday night by taking down Grambling (2-6) in commanding straight set 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-17) victory to improve to 3-4 on the season.
 
The match is the only home match out of the first 15 to begin the season for the Cowgirls. McNeese will return home Sept. 19 to host Nicholls in its Southland Conference opener.
 
"I'm thankful we got an opportunity to play at home this early in the season," said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "There's a little extra stress and energy associated with playing at home and I'm glad we got to work through that stuff a little tonight," Fitzgerald said.
 
From the look of things, the Cowgirls were glad to be back home and were ready to play in front of its home crowd as the Cowgirls came out with a bang in the opening set with a .633 hitting percent. McNeese picked up 20 of its 44 total kills in the first set on 30 attempt and committed only one hitting error.
 
Fitzgerald played multiple players and it paid off. McNeese ended the match with a season best .354 hitting percent and committed only nine hitting errors.
 
"In general, I thought we played pretty clean and brought awareness to facets we need to improve on. We will take some much needed rest on Tuesday and get back to practice Wednesday to prepare for this weekend's tournament."
 
Sophomore Shanna Spree and senior Rae Myers led the Cowgirls with nine and eight kills, respectively. Spree picked up her career high with five blocks while Myers hit .438.
 
The setter duo of Adison Giambrone and Alexandra Aguilera continued their steady play by dishing out assists to nine different players who recorded at least one kill. Giambrone ended the match with 22 assists and Aguilera finished with 18.
 
 Sophomore libero Angela McGownd led all players with a match high 19 digs along with two service aces.
 
McNeese will hit the road again this weekend for its third consecutive tournament in as many weekends by taking part in the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup hosted by the University of Houston. McNeese will open tournament action at 10 a.m. Friday against Mississippi State and Houston at 7 p.m. later that night before concluding tournament play with a 10 a.m. match against Stetson Saturday morning.