Re: 2006 Lady Cajun Volleyball
LOUISIANA La. – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team extended its homecourt winning streak to three matches with a 3-0 (30-25, 30-22, 30-16) victory over Louisiana-Monroe here Sunday afternoon at Earl K. Long Gym.
Overall, the Ragin’ Cajuns (7-18, 4-10 Sun Belt) halted a six-match losing streak and moved within one full game of the final spot in the 2006 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will head into the final four matches of the season trailing Arkansas-Little Rock and Florida Atlantic, both 5-9 in the Sun Belt, for the eighth and final spot in the league’s postseason event.
Elizabeth Inman led all players in Sunday’s match with 11 kills. Kim Rodgers and Rachel Mauti each added nine kills for UL. Erika Castro led the Cajuns with 15 digs
UL ended the match with a .211 hitting percentage and out-killed the Warhawks (5-24, 2-11 Sun Belt) 38-31.
Hitting percentages told the story in Sunday’s match. UL hit .182, .162 and .321 while ULM never had a hitting percentage above .100. The Warhawks hit .095 in game one and had more attack errors (22) than kills (20) in the final two games combined.
The sweep was the third straight for the Ragin’ Cajuns at Long Gym. UL swept Troy and South Alabama in its previous two home matches prior to Sunday’s ULM match.
“I thought we started off strong and finished even stronger,” said UL head coach Amy Kraljev. “Our girls played very disciplined today. They were disciplined with our defensive sets which helped make our offense successful.”
The Cajuns used a late rally in game one – the only game where it wasn’t sure what the outcome would be halfway through the game. In all, the opener saw 10 tied scores and four lead changes.
ULM held a 21-19 lead after a block by Stephanie Hall and Megan Osborne. A kill by Kendra Hall followed by a Jessica Pattison service ace and Mauti kill propelled the Cajuns into a 22-21 lead.
The Warhawks drew even after Pattison committed a service error following a timeout. The Cajuns responded with their most dominating stretch of the opener to put the game away and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
A service error from Osborne put the Cajuns up 23-22. UL then put down three consecutive kills – one from Rodgers and then back-to-back off the hand of Inman – to open a 26-22 lead.
In game two the Ragin’ Cajuns broke away from an 8-8 tie by going on an 8-1 run that created a 16-9 cushion. A Mari O’Neal kill made it 16-10, but she followed up with a service error.
ULM closed the deficit to 20-13 before the Cajuns put away the game with four straight points to open a 24-13 edge. The Cajuns won game two 30-22 and went into the locker room up 2-0 in the match.
Game three saw the Cajuns storm out to an early lead and pull away late for a 14-point victory that sealed the sweep.
ULM drew within seven points, 20-13, before UL went on to score 10 of the final 13 points.
The Cajuns return to action and conclude their home schedule next weekend. UL will host North Texas at 7 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 3 before playing its final home match of the season on Saturday, Nov. 4 against Denver at 7 p.m.
“We fought hard a couple of weeks ago at their place (NT and Denver),” Kraljev commented. “We are hoping playing at home in front of our fans will give us a boost in our final home weekend.”
LOUISIANA SI
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