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The UL Ragin' Cajun volleyball team has five of its six starters returning from last season.
Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not. Old habits can be hard to break, especially when a team's coming off a 5-20 season.
But this year, having those returnees is a very good thing for second-year coach Amy Kraljev.
"Their energy level has skyrocketed," Kraljev said of her returning class. "They've made it a lot easier to help our new players adjust to a new level. That's how programs develop, having that kind of leadership from the older kids."
The older players had their share of struggles last season, but Kraljev said that she started seeing signs of life late last season. Four of last year's five season-ending matches (1-4) went to either four or five games and each included several close games.
"We had a lot of personnel changes last year," Kraljev said. "It was tough. My job was to take who we had and make the best of them. By the end of the season, we started getting on the same page."
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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The Cajuns lost senior leading kill scorer Elina Salomaki (338 kills) and libero Teri Vicknair, but the returning regulars accounted for 66 percent of UL's offense last season.
That offense will be improved with the addition of freshman outside hitter Rachel Mauti - the daughter of former New Orleans Saints receiver Rich Mauti.
"She definitely will have an impact on this team," Kraljev said. "She comes from a really good program (Mandeville High) and she's going to compete from the start for that other outside position."
The other primary newcomer is setter Kendra Hall of Dallas-Lake Highlands High, but she'll have a tougher time getting playing time since Canadian standout Tara Cote is back at the setter slot. Cote accounted for 814 of the team's 998 assists last year.
The key to success, though, may be senior middle blocker Kim Rodgers. The 6-foot-2 product of British Columbia, Canada, led the team in blocks and averaged over two kills per game.
"Kim really stepped up and took on responsibility," Kraljev said of Rodgers' late-season efforts. "When she was in the front row she was calling for the ball. She wanted to be the one to take it, and if we were in trouble she wanted to be the person to change things."
Sophomore Liz Inman joins Rodgers in the middle and senior Erika Castro returns as an outside hitter, with defender and Lafayette High product Jessica Pattison rounding out the likely lineup.
Sophomore Jamie Sinegal of Acadiana also saw regular action last season.
"Jamie started making the little adjustments late last year," Kraljev said. "It took a little while, but you saw her doing the little things and that rolled over into the spring."
UL's spring included a month of individual practices, and a series of matchups against other collegiate squads in club-like tournaments. Since reporting back to start fall drills Wednesday, Kraljev is squeezing in practice time ... as much as six hours a day through the end of next week prior to the Aug. 21 opening of the fall semester.
That's necessary since UL opens its season in less than two weeks on Aug. 25-26, hosting the Capital One Classic with Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi and Southeastern La. in the field.
"We have to push as much as possible now since we have constraints with the hour rule when school starts," Kraljev said. "We're hammering it in now, because you don't have time to stop and explain things once we get to that point. Once it starts, it's a whirlwind."
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