The Book 2006-07 UL Lady Cajuns Volleyball

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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." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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The University of Louisiana volleyball team, less than one week away from its 2006 season opener, will hold a full-scale scrimmage from 1-3 p.m. today at Earl K. Long Gym. The Cajuns of coach Amy Kraljev open their regular season next Friday-Saturday, Aug. 25-26, when they host the Capital One Classic at Long Gym. Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi and Southeastern La. will be in the field for the round-robin event, with UL opening up at 7 p.m. Friday against SLU. The source of the story

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The University of Louisiana volleyball team probably played more points Saturday than it will face in any match this season. But coach Amy Kraljev said her Cajun team needed the work. "We've covered a lot of ground," Kraljev said of her team's fall drills, "but up until a couple of days ago we hadn't been able to really compete against each other. We've had a couple of injuries, and when you only have 10 people to start with ..." All 10 squad members were available Saturday, and with the graduated Elina Salomaki and Kraljev herself taking part the team held a six-game intrasquad scrimmage match at Earl K. Long Gym. It was the heaviest workout UL will have before next weekend's host spot in the Capital One Classic tournament. "The last two days we've gotten in a lot of competition," Kraljev said, "and we've cleaned up a lot of the communication breakdowns we had earlier. We've caught up, and I didn't think we could do that earlier this week." Kraljev used different lineups on each side of the net in each of the six games, making minor adjustments after each to look at team chemistry. Between the first and second games, the only change was switching each team's setter, swapping junior returning starter Tara Cote and freshman Kendra Hall. "You'd be surprised how much their presence means," Kraljev said. "They're the quarterbacks. They tell everyone else where to go. I needed to see if our communication increased or decreased when I swapped them." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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LOUISIANA La. – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns will jumpstart their 2006 volleyball season this weekend as the squad hosts the Captial One Classic at Earl K. Long Gym. The tournament will run Friday-Saturday, Aug. 25-26. UL will be hosting Mississippi State, Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Mississippi. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Earl K. Long Gym front entrance, both on Friday and Saturday. Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 2-16. UL students are admitted free of charge with their student ID. Match times on Friday are set for 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. Saturday’s play features start times of 12 Noon, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. The Ragin’ Cajuns begin tournament play and open the 2006 season on Friday at 7 p.m., against Southeastern Louisiana. Prior to UL taking the court, Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi will square off. UL meets Southern Mississippi on Saturday at 2 p.m., and closes out the tournament later that day against Mississippi State at 7 p.m. CAPITAL ONE CLASSIC Friday-Saturday, Aug. 25-26, 2006 Earl K. Long Gym – UL Campus Friday Game 1 – 5 p.m. – Mississippi State vs. Southern Mississippi Game 2 – 7 p.m. - Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Southeastern Louisiana Saturday Game 3 – 12 p.m. – Southeastern Louisiana vs. Mississippi State Game 4 – 2 p.m. - Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Southern Mississippi Game 5 – 5 p.m. – Southern Mississippi vs. Southeastern Louisiana Game 6 – 7 p.m. – Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Mississippi State LOUISIANA SI

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It shouldn't have come as a big surprise, after last year's struggles, but the University of Louisiana volleyball team didn't get a lot of love in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll announced Monday. The Cajuns were tabbed to finish sixth in the seven-team Western Division, ahead of first-year league member UL Monroe. UL also didn't have a player picked to the eight-woman preseason all-conference team. Denver was picked to win the West in the polling of the 13 league coaches, just ahead of Arkansas-Little Rock. Western Kentucky was a narrow 7-6 pick to top Middle Tennessee in the Eastern Division race. The Cajuns are coming off a 5-20 season and went 2-10 in last year's Sun Belt race, failing to make the field for the eight-team league tournament. UL's only league wins came over South Alabama, which is picked to finish sixth and last in the East this year. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[cajunvbmom]

I'm leaving Fort Worth Friday morning at 9:30 am...I can't wait. The girls are hyped and ready to prove they are a team to be reckoned with.

Geaux Cajuns!

[cajunvbmom]

A different story will be told in the post-season!

Support Cajun Volleyball!

Geaux Cajuns!

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Despite a rather difficult schedule and a lack of depth to the roster, the Ragin’ Cajun volleyball team is gearing up for a winning season and Sun Belt glory. “We have some steep competition in the conference,” assistant volleyball coach Jonathan Newman-Gonchar said. “We are making steady improvement every practice, and in order to compete in the Sun Belt Conference we must stay focused on the steps necessary to make the conference tournament.” Newman-Gonchar mentioned that the Cajuns are facing a fairly challenging pre-conference schedule that will help the team raise its level of play before it goes head to head with the other teams of the Sun Belt. Newman-Gonchar also said he believes the Cajun’s greatest strength for the upcoming season is the camaraderie among the players. “We have a tremendously tight group of girls that are looking to do something special this year,” he said. “The team is growing closer every practice, and there is something to be said about a team dynamic as strong as we have.” The Cajun’s only drawback is the limited number of players on the roster. The roster currently boosts only 10 players, seven of which are returning players. Newman-Gonchar and head coach Amy Kraljev are looking toward seniors Jessica Pattison and Kim Rodgers and junior Tara Cote to be the team leaders on and off the field. The rest of the story The Vermilion Author: Heather Warren

[Turbine]

It's late in the day (for me) but I'm going to try and make it.

[cajunvbmom]

It's late in the day (for me) but I'm going to try and make it.

I'm so looking forward to spending my weekend in Lafayette...friendly people, nice weather (anything's better than the run of 100 degrees days and no rain that we've had in Fort Worth) spending time with my daughter and volleyball...it doesn't get much better than that!

Geaux Cajuns!

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University of Louisiana volleyball coach Amy Kraljev is all about the details. That's why her Ragin' Cajun squad spent part of Thursday's practice going over its pre-match routine. "I guess that's a good sign," Kraljev said. "I'm definitely happy with where we are right now, especially after having individual meetings with the players today. I'm anxious to see how they play together." Kraljev will get a lot of those answers this weekend when UL hosts the Capital One Classic at Earl K. Long Gym. The four-team round-robin event begins at 5 p.m. today with pre-tournament favorite Mississippi State meeting Southern Mississippi, followed by the Cajuns facing in-state foe Southeastern La. at approximately 7 p.m. Four more matches are set for Saturday, with UL meeting USM at 2 p.m. and MSU at 7 p.m. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 2-16 each day, with UL students admitted free with ID. The Cajuns have had two and one-half weeks of fall camp in preparation for the home event, and Kraljev said the sixsome that starts tonight's match may be in place for the weekend and longer if preseason drills are any indication. "I'm going to put what I think is our best six out there, and after that it depends on what happens," she said. "We may go like that for a while. We'll just have to see what happens." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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LAFAYETTE – A balanced attack carried Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-19, 30-25, 30-22) victory over Southeastern Louisiana here at Earl K. Long Gym in the Capital One Classic. The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-0) had four players tally at least eight kills with Jamie Sinegal and Kim Rodgers leading the way with nine kills apiece. UL also took advantage of numerous SLU attack errors and other miscues. The Lions (0-1) committed 27 attack errors and had a negative hitting percentage in the bookend games of the match. Freshman Rachel Mauti collected a match-high 14 digs for the Cajuns. Rodgers and Jessica Pattison were on target for kills when called upon. Rodgers did not commit an attack error in 17 attempts. Pattison threw down eight kills on 17 attempts with only one error. The victory marked the first season-opening victory for UL head coach Amy Kraljev. The Lions started the match scoring the first four points. The Cajuns rallied for five straight points capped off a kill by Pattison to take a 5-4 lead. With the exception of a couple of tied scores in games two and three, UL lead for the remainder of the match. Game one remained close after a Mauti service error trimmed the Cajuns lead to 12-10. A series of errors by the Lions – two attack errors and a bad set – pushed the UL lead to 16-10. The Cajuns would go on to stretch their lead to as many as 13 points using an 11-4 run to open a 27-14 cushion After a slow start in game one which saw UL get only 10 kills, the Ragin’ Cajuns cruised through game two posting 16 kills and committing only three attack errors The Cajuns raced to a quick 7-2 advantage taking advantage of SLU miscues. The Lions answered with five straight points to pull even. After an 8-8 tie, Jamie Sinegal posted a kill to give the Cajuns a 9-8 lead. The game remained relatively close as the Cajuns get no further than a seven-point edge. SLU trimmed the deficit to 28-25 on a Tara Cote attack error. Back-to-back errors by SLU’s Brittany Pomes gave the Cajuns the two points they needed for the 30-25 win and a 2-0 lead in them match. The Cajuns jumped out to a 9-5 advantage in game three and never let in coasting to the victory despite the Lions cutting the lead to three points a few times. UL would not give in even though the Lions eventually cut the lead to 23-21 on a Lydia Adeosun kill. An attack error by Pomes gave UL the serve and a 24-21 lead. A Rodgers kills put the Cajuns up 27-22 and following a SLU timeout Mauti served up the final three points to clinch the game and match. Mauti got an ace and on the next serve assisted on Sinegal’s final kill of the match to make it 29-22. On Mauti’s next serve SLU setter Maddie Beebe lost control on the set and the ball hit the floor for the 30th and final UL point of the evening. Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns continue action in the Capital One Classic on Saturday with matches against Southern Miss at 2 p.m., and Mississippi State at 7 p.m. LOUISIANA SI

[LuLu]

I went to that game on Friday night. It was a great game! I was most impressed with the large attendance and the "new" gym. Great experience! I can't get over how many people were there.

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Jessica Pattison knew a lot about volleyball before this summer, and she also knew a lot about the University of Louisiana athletic program as vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. But five days of interaction with student-athletes from across the country taught her something about leadership ... and about herself. The Maurice native represented UL at the NCAA's annual Leadership Conference, held at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in June. "It really opened my eyes," said Pattison, whose Cajun squad opened its 2006 season Friday and Saturday in its own Capital One Classic tournament. "Getting a chance to share experiences with a lot of people who are in similar situations, it was an amazing experience." Pattison, a former standout at Lafayette High and one of three seniors on UL's roster, was one of 352 athletes from all NCAA competition levels (Divisions I, II and III) selected to participate in the conference. A total of 1,319 student-athletes were nominated by NCAA members, with UL compliance coordinator Kristi Stake nominating Pattison. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[cajunvbmom]

I went to that game on Friday night. It was a great game! I was most impressed with the large attendance and the "new" gym. Great experience! I can't get over how many people were there.

Believe me, no one was more surprised at the attendance than me. Thank you all for your support. The team looks great! They have the tools and the desire to be very successful this season. Please show continued support. Athletes always dig a little deeper when they see a hugh fan base. Several of the girls made comments about coming out of the locker room and seeing so many people in the stands.

Tuesday, Aug.29 at 7:00 pm is your next opportunity.

Geaux Cajuns!