Up 2-1 in the fourth set, the Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team saw a late four-point lead slip away as Sam Houston State rallied to even the match then led throughout the fifth set to complete a come-from-behind 3-2 (14-25, 25-21, 25-27, 28-26, 15-11) win over UL in the 2012 season opener Friday evening Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

The Cajuns (0-1) were leading 20-16 in the fourth set and five points shy of claiming the match. The Bearkats (1-0) rolled off a 7-2 run, benefitting from six UL attack errors, to grab a 23-22 lead.

Louisiana reached set-and match-point, taking a 26-25 lead on a Mandi Gavin ace. But a Gavin service error gave SHSU new life then Kim Black threw down a kill for the lead and Bridgette Bennett served up an ace to send the match to a fifth set.

UL scored first in the final set, only to have the Bearkats rattle off three straight points - all on kills - to reclaim the momentum. Sam Houston made only one attack error in 16 attempts in the final set, finishing with a 15-11 win.

The Cajuns stayed within one or two points throughout the fifth set, closing the gap to 10-9 on a Blair Claypoole kill. Trailing 12-10, a Claypoole service error and Devene Wells-Gibson ace gave the Bearkats a four-point cushion that stood.

"Tough battle," head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot remarked. "We must take better care behind the service line at crucial times in the match.

"The team knows it and this is only one match. Although we can't get it back, we can and will grow from it. "

Louisiana completes play in the 27th Annual Sam Houston Volleyball Invitational on Saturday facing Pac-12 member Colorado at 10 a.m., and Texas Southern at 4 p.m.


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