The Book 2008-09 UL Lady Cajuns Volleyball

[NewsCopy]

  LAKE CHARLES, La. – A four-game skid to open the season could not thwart the determined Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team as they won for the second time in as many days, and have strung together the season’s first winning streak, taking a thriller from McNeese State in five sets by scores of 15-25, 22-25, 25-21, 26-24 and 15-12.

A five-set win in most cases is no big deal. But the Cajuns made this one to remember. After dropping the first set by a wide 10-point margin, Louisiana pushed for the second but came up three points shy.

The trend of improvement from set to set carried through to the third, which saw Louisiana stay ahead of McNeese through most of the match. The only McNeese lead of the set came early on a 3-2 margin. Elizabeth Inman quickly evened the score on a kill, one of 11 for the match. The Cajuns cruised on to the win, never again relinquishing the advantage.

The fourth set took a decidedly different course. Louisiana exploded out to a 0-7 lead. Despite the initial momentum, McNeese State slowly came back to tie the score at 17, and continued to a 20-18 lead. With every set a possible match-winner for McNeese, the Cajuns stepped to the challenge and rallied to tie the score again at 22. After trading pairs of kills to move to 23- and 24-all, the Cajuns benefitted from a McNeese service error. With match point in hand, newcomer Amanda Cune stepped to the service line and delivered an ace, giving the Cajuns both the set and another chance to win the match.

The final and determining fifth set started with a couple of quick points for the Cajuns, courtesy of Lesley Mirarchi and Caroline Dufrene, who opened the set with a kill each. McNeese managed to rally once more to tie the score at 10, the 20th tie of the night, but Louisiana steeled their resolve, fighting back with a kill, a forced attack error from McNeese, and three more kills to ensure their second consecutive victory.

The fourth set marks the second set to go to extra points on the season for the Cajuns, who are already halfway to equaling their 4-29 record from 2007.

Mirarchi again came up big for the Cajuns, slamming nine kills with just two errors, for a solid hitting percentage of .368. Kendra Hall continues to improve following her bout with an infection that removed her from two matches. Since returning, she assisted 18 times on Sept. 9 against Stephen F. Austin, 34 times Tuesday night against Northwestern, and 46 times against McNeese.

Dufrene headlined the offensive success for Louisiana, posting 16 kills on just five errors for a .333 hitting percentage.

Libero Lindsay Brown notched 17 digs and three service aces, while Carly Payan played her best offensive match of the season. She targeted her attacks perfectly on her way to 8 kills in 16 attempts, giving away zero points on attack errors, which to date had been a thorn in the side of the Cajuns offense. Payan’s .500 hitting percentage against McNeese is the best single-match mark of any Ragin’ Cajun this season (five-kill minimum).

The Cajuns hope to continue the good fortune with make-up matches this weekend. The schedule for the weekend is set to be announced Thursday.

RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

 UL - The Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team announced Thursday their participation in the Spike Ike Classic this weekend at North Texas, held in place of the Lamar Tournament, which was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike.

Louisiana will make up matches against Texas Tech at noon and Texas-Pan American at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Cajuns will then square off with Stephen F. Austin for the second time this season at 10 a.m. on Saturday, in place of the lost match with Lamar. The last meeting between Louisiana and SFA on Tuesday, Sept. 9, ended in a 0-3 sweep of the Cajuns in their first home match.

Host school North Texas agreed to host the event, despite the fact that they will not even be competing in the tournament. The Mean Green will be at the Southern Mississippi Invitational in Hattiesburg, Miss.

The Cajuns are 2-4 on the season, heading into the weekend armed with their first winning streak since 2006, when they put together wins against Troy and South Alabama on Friday, Oct. 6 and Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006.

RaqinCajuns.com

John Strawn

[Zeebart21]

_ _

Best of luck to our VBall team!! Its been a funky year, weather wise for them also!!

Z

[NewsCopy]

  DENTON, Texas –Louisiana got back into winning ways with a victory over Texas-Pan American in straight sets at the Spike Ike Classic on Friday, by scores of 25-23, 25-9 and 25-20.

Hitting was troublesome in the day's early match against Texas Tech, but against UTPA it was a much different story. Four players finished with a hitting percentage over .400, and three over .500.

Caroline Dufrene led all players with 13 kills in 19 attempts with two errors, good for a sizzling .579 percentage. Elizabeth Inman hit for the match's highest percentage at .583, on seven kills in 12 attempts and no errors.

Lesley Mirarchi continued her hard-hitting day, finishing with 11 kills in 18 attempts against UTPA, with just one error and a .556 hitting percentage. Rachel Mauti joined the fun with her best outing of her collegiate career, putting down eight kills with one error in 16 attempts for a .438 mark.

As a team, the Cajuns blew away their season high for hitting percentage with an excellent .427 mark. On defense they held UTPA to a percentage of .118.

Kendra Hall notched 40 assists, and Inman put up a brick wall at the net, assisting in six blocks throughout the match.

No one player registered more than seven digs as UTPA tried to probe the defense for weaknesses they never found. All but one Cajuns' player to see the floor registered at least one dig, and four players tallied four or more. Freshman Katie Kennedy led them all with seven digs, followed by libero Lindsay Brown with six.

The first set saw 13 tie scores and five lead changes, and would have fooled anyone watching into believing the match would be close. UTPA did not fall behind by more than three at any point in the set. Louisiana was able to get back on top and close out the set, but it took four rallies with set point in hand. The game finally concluded at 25-23 on an Inman kill.

Set No. 2 resulted in a bit of whiplash for Louisiana, as they took off on the power of five kills from Dufrene and four from Mirarchi and Inman. UTPA did not have a chance to get back in the set thanks to no attack errors and an incredible .577 hitting percentage from the Cajuns, who won 25-9.

The third set more closely resembled the first than the second with eight ties and three lead changes. UTPA never fell behind by more than five, but could not fight back to tie after the Cajuns took an 11-10 lead. UL stayed on top the rest of the way, despite UTPA clawing its way back to a three-point deficit at 22-19. The Cajuns again kept the errors down, allowing just one giveaway in the set and staying above .500 in the hitting percentage column at .519.

The Cajuns continue the Spike Ike Classic on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Stephen F. Austin, looking for a measure of revenge against the Lady Jacks who stole the home opener in Lafayette on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

RaginCajuns.com

John Strawn

[reaper1]

_ Best of luck to our VBall team!! Its been a funky year, weather wise for them also!!

Z _

Other than the Weather, what else is funky? Mazeitis will get her team to win by hard work. She doesnt back down, and will not hide from a TOUGH schedule.
Cajun Volleyball will Weather the Storm/Hurricane and be fine. They have a great leader and coach. Good luck Ladies!

[wisconsincajun]

Good luck to the ladies as they travel to North Texas and Denver this weekend! "You can do it!"

[Turbine]

_ Good luck to the ladies as they travel to North Texas and Denver this weekend! "You can do it!" _

Yes indeed.

They can do it!!

[wisconsincajun]

You got that right! The girls have been working hard and are ready to get some wins. It stinks that they have only had one home match so far thanks to the weather. They could really use the home support when they return to Long Gym later this month. Geaux Cajuns!

[NewsCopy]

  LAFAYETTE – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team is traveling north for the weekend, headed first to Denton, Texas to face North Texas on Friday at 7 p.m. and then on to Denver, Colo. for a match with Denver at 8 p.m.

The Cajuns enter the weekend with a 3-9 record, including a 0-2 mark in the Sun Belt Conference that they could even with a clean sheet.

On paper, the two opponents could not be more different. North Texas stands at 2-11 overall and 0-1 in the Sun Belt, while Denver is 12-2 overall and 1-0 in conference. North Texas has hit .140 so far, while Denver owns a .260 hitting percentage.

Louisiana may be able to take advantage of Denver’s busy weekend. The Pioneers play matches at home on both Friday and Saturday before hosting the Cajuns. Friday they take on New Orleans, followed by a Saturday showdown with ULM.

Following three wins in four matches between Tuesday, Sept. 16, and Friday, Sept. 19, the Cajuns have dropped four straight decisions. Following this weekend’s matches, the Cajuns take a week off prior to hosting South Alabama and Troy on Friday, Oct. 10, and Saturday, Oct. 11, respectively, in just the second homestand of the season.

Sonora Edwards will likely play a large role in the efforts of the Cajuns against the Mean Green and the Pioneers. She has hit .338 in the last three matches, with 29 kills and four block assists. Also figuring in the game plan will be Caroline Dufrene, who has slumped recently but remains the team-leader in kills with 80.

RaginCajuns.com

[wisconsincajun]

congrats Lady Cajuns on your 3-0 win over North Texas! Good luck against Denver on Sunday.

[Zeebart21]

_ congrats Lady Cajuns on your 3-0 win over North Texas! Good luck against Denver on Sunday. _

That is awesome news. I sense a different attitude on the VB team this year. Kick X in Denver!

Thanks for keeping us updated Wisconsincajun!

Z

[NewsCopy]

 
DENTON, Texas – A four-game losing streak ended Friday night for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team, as they swept the North Texas Mean Green for their first Sun Belt Conference victory by scores of 25-21, 28-26 and 25-17.

Despite the 3-0 score, North Texas was determined not to make it too easy for the Cajuns. The Mean Green almost came back from a 20-13 deficit, rallying for five straight points. Louisiana stopped the rally with a Sonora Edwards kill, followed immediately by a Kendra Hall service ace and a kill from Lesley Mirarchi to get within two points of the win. After three North Texas points, Mirarchi and Kerrilyn Lazare delivered the set’s final two kills, respectively.

The Cajuns found themselves at a 12-17 disadvantage midway through the second set, which featured 13 tie scores. They caught up during a 12-7 stretch, just in time to ensure extra points in the set with a 24-24 tie. After both teams inched up to 26 points, Mirarchi found the hardwood for a kill, before a North Texas attack error handed the Cajuns the set.

The third set saw UL grab the lead and never turn back. They finished strong, gathering an eight point lead, their largest of the night, on match point.

Head coach Heather Mazeitis earned a significant milestone with the win.

“It was my first Sun Belt win, and it felt great,” she said. “We didn’t play perfect. We had some hitting errors, but we stayed consistent, and that was the most important thing.”

Leading the offense was Mirarchi, who set her own career high in kills, with 14 against five errors in 27 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Amie Goodwin followed with 10 kills, her second best performance of the season, with four errors in 20 attempts, finishing at .300. Together, Mirarchi and Goodwin provided over half of the team’s kills.

Seven total blocks helped keep the pressure off the offense. Senior Elizabeth Inman posted five block assists to lead the Cajuns, while freshman Meghan Harrison made her floor time count with a career high three block assists

“The blocking was a big deal for us,” Mazeitis said. “We had so many good touches, our defense just didn’t have to work very hard.”

RaginCajuns.com