Lady Cajuns Volleyball Summer Notebook

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The Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball program enters the fifth year under the direction of head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot in 2012. The team will be returning to campus on Wednesday, Aug. 8 to start preparations for the upcoming season.

This summer a pair of members of the roster returned home and competed internationally. Another visited a country in South America to teach a language; meanwhile the coaching staff saw an increase in attendance for the program’s annual summer camps.

Below are a few news and notes items recapping the summer for Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball:

STEPPING UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL: Andrea Hole (Oslo, Norway) had an opportunity to work with the Norwegian National Team over the summer months. Hole went through workouts with the national team, marking her opportunity to be with the national team. A rising sophomore for the Ragin’ Cajuns, Hole was the national captain for two seasons with the Norwegian Junior National Team in 2009 and 2010.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER: Rising junior Lavinia Tataran (Satu Mare, Romania) returned home to Romania and worked her way to the championship match of the 2012 Romanian Beach National Championships. Tataran and her partner, Oana Vlad, finished second in the event held in Constanta, Romania. Success in beach volleyball is nothing new to Tataran…she came to UL as a two-time beach volleyball champion.

CAREER-BUILDING EXPERIENCE: Both Andrea Hole and Lavinia Tataran benefitted from the international competition this summer. Their experiences will give them the opportunity to play professionally in Europe after their collegiate career is complete and give them a chance to play both indoors and outdoors for their country. Perhaps in the future, Ragin’ Cajuns athletics will be represented in the Olympics by this volleyball duo.

BREAKING LANGUAGE BARRIERS: A summer course took rising senior Blair Claypoole on a unique trip to the South American continent of Chile. Claypoole spent the better part of June and July teaching English as a second language to young children at an elementary school in Chile. Claypoole learned from her pupils as well, as everyone she interacted with spoke only Spanish. The Mesquite, Texas, native returned home on Friday, July 20.

TURNOUT WAS GOOD: Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot reported that 600-plus campers were in attendance for the annual summer camps the program holds during the month of June. The successful summer session wraps up this weekend as the Team Competition Camps are held Saturday-Sunday, July 28-29 at Earl K. Long Gym.

CALL TO DUTY: The summer months are slowly winding down and the countdown is on for the Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team members to report for preseason camp. Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot and assistant coach Jon Haruguchi will welcome their squad back to the University of Louisiana campus on Wednesday, Aug. 8. The first preseason practice is set for Thursday, Aug. 9. The Cajuns will have 27 practice units between the start of practice and the season opener which is set for Friday, August 24 in Huntsville, Texas, against Sam Houston State in the Sam Houston Invitational.

AN INTERNATIONAL INFLUX: The number of international players on the Ragin’ Cajuns roster continues to grow. In addition to Andrea Hole (Norway) and Lavinia Tataran (Romania), head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot has added a native of New Zealand (Katie Adamson) and Estonia (Maret Randpold).

ACADEMIC SUCCESS: The Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team saw over half its members post a 3.0 GPA or higher during the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 semester, as 12 of the 16 rostered players reached the mark. The squad’s overall GPA ranked as the second-highest among all Cajuns women’s sports, trailing only women’s tennis, both semesters. The team GPA was above 3.0 both semesters, extending the current streak of consecutive semesters with a 3.0 or above to four.

MARK YOUR CALENAR: The Ragin’ Cajuns home opener is set for Friday, Aug. 31 at 3 p.m., against Houston Baptist. The match is the first of three that UL will play that weekend in the Bon Temps Invitational at Earl K. Long Gym.

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