The Book 2009-10 UL Lady Cajuns Volleyball

[RaginDave]

Cajuns defeat Southern Utah University 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) setting up a championship match vs host Sam Houston State, who is 3-0 as well.

Geaux Cajuns. This game will be later tonight

[wisconsincajun]

Cajuns are 9-0 and Sam Houston is 9-3. Will be a great match! Geaux Cajuns!

[bobbettesh]

Lady Cajuns took 2nd in the Sam Houston tournament tonight! How Wonderful! On to the next

[Zeebart21]

Lady Cajuns took 2nd in the Sam Houston tournament tonight! How Wonderful! On to the next

nice!!

[NewsCopy]

  Kendra Hall surpassed Beth Henson into third place in the school record books for career assists with her fifth helper vs. Southern Utah. Hall currently has 2,816 career helpers.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team split a pair of matches on the final day of the Comfort Suites/SHSU Invitational in Huntsville, Texas.
Louisiana (3-1) swept Southern Utah (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) in the afternoon session to set up a showdown with host-Sam Houston State for the tournament title.

The Bearkats (4-0) claimed the first two sets and held off a Ragin' Cajuns rally to post a 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 13-25, 15-11) victory and take the title.

It was another banner day for Louisiana's freshman duo of Ariel Krolikowski and Bethany Fogler. Krolikowski threw down 23 kills over the eight sets to finish her debut weekend with 44 kills over 14 sets. Fogler recorded a UL season-high 18 kills against SHSU and finished with 24 on the day.

Both Krolikowski and Fogler were named to the All-Tournament team.

Cajuns setter Kendra Hall surpassed Beth Henson into third place in the school's record books for career assists with her fifth helper against Southern Utah. The fourth-year starter ended the tournament with 130 assists and currently has 2,816 career helpers.

Defensively, it was libero Lindsay Brown turning in a pair of stellar performances. She piled up 19 digs against Southern Utah and followed that up by tying her career-high with 25 digs against SHSU. Brown finished the tournament with 70 digs over 14 sets, an average of 5.0 digs per set.

Louisiana returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 2 when the squad travels to Nacogdoches, Texas, to meet Stephen F. Austin. That will be followed by a trip to Baton Rouge to participate in the LSU Tiger Classic to be held Friday-Saturday, Sept. 4-5 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

UL SI

[Frenchie35]

Lady Cajuns of UL. Now where else would they come from.........Not another squad named that in the whole USA.

[Cajunsmike]

_ Shows what I know, I thought VolleyBall was best 2 out of 3 _

VB is 3 out of 5. I believe the fifth set may have a different no. required for winning it. First four sets are first to 25 but you have to win by 2 points to take that set.

[LuLu]

_ VB is 3 out of 5. I believe the fifth set may have a different no. required for winning it. First four sets are first to 25 but you have to win by 2 points to take that set. _

The last set is 15, but you have to win by two.

Our Cajun Ladies did a great job! I can' wait for them to come home so we can see the new faces. BTW, those new faces are playing very well.

Geaux Cajuns!

[LuLu]

Geaux Cajuns! I think this squad will make us proud! Great way to start off!

First home game is September 26. Also the date of the Nebraska game. Might have to bring my radio to EKL Gym.

[NewsCopy]

  Louisiana faces national powershouse Nebraska at 11 a.m., on Friday in the opening match of the LSU Tiger Classic.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team will take in its second tournament of the 2009 season this weekend in Baton Rouge at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Louisiana (3-2) is participating in the LSU Tiger Classic Friday-Saturday, Sept. 4-5 against top-flight competition.

The Ragin' Cajuns will face No. 6 Nebraska at 11 a.m., on Friday to start tournament play. The Huskers, a perennial volleyball powerhouse, have been to the NCAA Tournament the past 26 years and have made 10 Final Four appearances. It's arguably the highest profile program Louisiana has ever faced.

UL will also meet in-state foes Tulane (0-0) and LSU (2-1), both receiving votes in the AVCA Division I Top 25 poll.

The Ragin' Cajuns enter the weekend coming off back-to-back losses to Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin. The most recent, was a 3-0 (24-26, 20-25, 21-25) set back at SFA on Wednesday.

The Cajuns offense is powered by the trio of junior Amie Goodwin (2.69 kills per set) and the freshman tandem of Ariel Krolikowski (3.24 kills per set) and Bethany Fogler (2.53 kills per set). Goodwin is coming off a season-high 15 kills at SFA while Krolikowski has reached double figures four times already.

The challenge for UL is to find other players to step up and support the aforementioned trio. Krolikowski, Goodwin and Fogler have reached at least 40 kills, but the next closest is Lesley Mirarchi's 20.

Libero Lindsay Brown continues to shine on defense for the Ragin' Cajuns. At SFA, Brown logged 21 digs over three sets for an average of 7.00 per set. She leads the Sun Belt Conference in digs with a 5.35 per set average. At her current pace she might challenge the school's single-season digs mark of 599 set by Jennifer Autry in 1990.

The Cornhuskers are 2-1 on the season and are coming off a three-set sweep of Creighton Tuesday night. Middle blocker Jordan Wilberger pounded a career-high 10 kills on .467 hitting, while All-American Tara Mueller had a match-high 13 kills on .333 hitting and eight digs.

Mueller leads the Cornhuskers in kills with 35 over 11 sets. Kayla Banwarth is tops in digs with 53 over 11 sets.

Five players made their Husker debuts last weekend, including outside hitters Gina Mancuso and Hannah Werth, setter Jessica Yanz, middle blocker Allison McNeal and defensive specialist Megan Pendergast.

Friday's meeting will mark the Cajuns first match against Nebraska in program history.

Tulane has yet to play this season. The Green Wave were originally slated to open the year last weekend at Creighton's Bluejay Invitational, but had to back out of the tournament as several members of the team suffered from flu-like symptoms.

The match with the Cajuns will serve as the Green Wave's season opener. The Green Wave return seven letterwinners - including three starters - from last year's team which won the 2008 Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

Louisiana and LSU do battle for the first time since 2002 when the two squads faced off at the Florida State Invitational. UL's last meeting with the Tigers in the PMAC took place Sept. 18, 2001.

LSU turned in a 2-1 weekend at the Shamrock Invitational last weekend at Notre Dame. The Tigers knocked off Denver and host-Notre Dame after going the distance with 2008 National Runner-Up and No. 5 Stanford.

Key offensive players for LSU are Michele Williams and Brittnee Cooper, who each threw down 37 kills in 13 sets at Notre Dame.

Single-match tickets can be purchased at the LSU ticket office or by calling (225) 578-2184 or (800) 960-8587. Ticket prices are $5 adult; $3 youth (12 and under).

UL SI

[NewsCopy]

  Caroline Dufrene delivered her best performance of the season against LSU at the Tiger Classic on Saturday. Dufrene led Louisiana with eight kills on just 16 attempts.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team wrapped up play in the LSU Tiger Classic Saturday morning and found themselves on the opposite end of a straight sets sweep against host-LSU in Baton Rouge at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU (3-2) collected set victories of 25-15, 25-14, 25-23 and out-hit the Ragin' Cajuns (3-5) .275 to .072.

Louisiana did improve upon its hitting percentages from Friday's outings with Nebraska (.000) and Tulane (.023).

Caroline Dufrene played her best match to date this season, throwing down a team-high eight kills on just 16 attempts. Amie Goodwin backed her up with six kills.

Goodwin and Lindsay Brown tied for the team-best with 10 digs apiece.

The Tigers held a 41-24 advantage in kills and posted nine blocks to the Cajuns' three.

UL hung tight with LSU in the opening set as neither team grabbed a lead larger than two points through the first 18 rallies. The Cajuns grabbed a two-point lead at 6-4 off back-to-back kills by Bethany Fogler and Dufrene.

Leading 10-8, the Tigers pulled away by scoring on five straight serves.

The Cajuns couldn't keep up with LSU's blistering .481 hitting percentage in the second set. The Cajuns kept it close through the first 13 serves, but the Tigers accuracy (only one attack error) created a huge wave of momentum for the hosts. Up 7-6, the Tigers rattled off eight of the next nine points.

Louisiana didn't bow out without a fight. In the final set, leading 9-8, the Ragin' Cajuns got a kill from Dufrene, forced an LSU attack error (Tania Schatow) and Kendra Hall recorded a service ace for a 12-8 advantage.

After a Tigers rally - which featured six of the next seven points in their favor - the Cajuns came back to pull into a 15-all tie. Then an ace by Mandi Gavin followed by an attack error by LSU's Angela Bensend gave UL a 17-15 edge.

The Tigers regained the lead but never led by more than two points. UL forged a 23-all tie following another Bensend attack error. Bensend then made up for her mistake by recording back-to-back kills to win the set and match for LSU.

Saturday's meeting was the first at the PMAC between the two programs since Sept. 18, 2001.

Louisiana has reached the halfway mark in its non-conference schedule. Next weekend, the Cajuns travel to Lake Charles to participate in the McNeese State Invitational Friday-Saturday, Sept. 11-12 in Memorial Gym on the McNeese campus.

UL SI

[NewsCopy]

  Lesley Mirarchi led Louisiana with 13 kills on 26 attempts against Alcorn State. It was the third time in the past six matches she reached double figures in kills.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team needed less than one hour to sweep past Alcorn State Thursday evening at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches.

The Ragin' Cajuns (6-7) opened play in the Northwestern State Tournament by winning three sets over the Braves (0-7) by the count of 25-14, 25-12, 25-9. The match was completed in 52 minutes.

Nearly half of Louisiana's attack attempts went for kills. UL threw down 44 kills on 89 attempts and finished with a team hitting percentage of .360. The Cajuns dominance held Alcorn to just 14 kills and 63 attempts.

The Cajuns saw five players register at least five kills. Lesley Mirarchi led the way with 13 kills. Mandi Gavin collected nine kills on 15 attempts and setter Kendra Hall posted eight kills on only 12 attempts.

It was Mirarchi's third double figure kills total in the past six outings. Hall did not commit an attack error and finished with a sizzling .667 hitting percentage.

The outcome was never in doubt. There were only three tied scores and no lead changes.

Louisiana registered 14 service aces, with four apiece by Hall and Gavin. It marked the fifth time this season that the Cajuns posted double figures in aces.

Leading 3-1 in the opening set, the Cajuns broke free getting kills from Goodwin and Gavin on the next two rallies and then a service ace from Gavin. An attack error by ASU's Brittany Watts upped the UL lead to 7-1.

The Braves crept within four points, 11-7, then the Cajuns put the set away by scoring on seven of the next eight rallies to open a double digit lead, 18-8.

A pair of Mirarchi kills on the 10th and 11th rally of the second set pushed UL's lead to 7-4. Still leading by three at 9-6, three straight service aces - all from Hall - pushed the lead to six points which was the closest Alcorn would get the rest of the way.

The Cajuns' final six points of the second set were registered by kills. Louisiana held an 18-5 advantage in kills during the set.

UL hit .343 (15 kills, 3 errors, 35 attempts) in the final set while the Braves struggled at a -.080 clip netting only three kills on 25 attempts. As a result, the score was never tied and the Cajuns raced to the 25-9 victory which sealed the sweep.

The victory allowed Louisiana to end a two-match losing streak. It also kept alive the team's goal of completing non-conference play with a winning record.

The Ragin' Cajuns will complete their stay in Natchitoches on Friday. UL will battle Central Arkansas (9-2) at 1 p.m., and close out the day with host-Northwestern State (0-7) at 7 p.m. Friday's action marks the final non-conference matches of the season.

UL SID