BEAUMONT — Former Lamar University and Bridge City standout Natalie Sarver Smith was honored Saturday by getting her jersey retired at Lamar University.

Sarver, helped lead the Bridge City Lady Cardinals to the Class 4A State Tournament in 1998 playing for coach Rosetta Wilson and was the MVP of both the All-District team and All-Orange Leader Team her junior and senior years.

Sarver Smith played for Lamar from 1999-2002, and was named to the All-Southland Conference team each of her four seasons as a Cardinal. She was named the 2002 Southland Player of the Year and took home the 2002 Babe Zaharias Award. Her contributions in the postseason were also notable, earning her All-Tournament honors in 2000 and 2002
Smith ranks among the best to ever wear an LU uniform in several statistical categories, including second and 10th, respectively, in single-season kills, first and fifth, respectively, in single-season attacks, and third and 10th, respectively, in single-season digs. She holds the Big Red record for career kills with 1,906 and career attacks with 5,053, and she also holds the career record for digs with 1,613. Sarver also holds the Cardinal record for kills in a game with 34, a number she achieved twice.
Due to her many accomplishments both on and off the court, Lamar Athletics was proud to make Natalie Smith’s jersey the first volleyball number to be retired in program history.
Joining Smith was over two dozen other Cardinal volleyball alumni, reaching back all the way to the 1971 season. Smith’s jersey retirement took place with Lamar’s President, Dr. Kenneth R. Evans, and Director of Athletics Marco Born in a pre-game ceremony, and the alumni recognition took place between Sets 2 and 3 of Saturday’s match.