The Book 2009-10 UL Lady Cajuns Volleyball

[NewsCopy]

  Louisiana Volleyball will get to enjoy the comforts of home Monday night as the squad hosts ULM at Earl K. Long Gym.

The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

It's the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. The Lady Cajuns (6-15, 0-6 Sun Belt) and Warhawks (3-19, 0-7 Sun Belt) will meet in the season finale on Sunday, Nov. 15 in Monroe.

The winner of the match will record their first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season.

The Ragin' Cajuns have dominated the all-time series, holding a 33-17 lead. Since UL Monroe joined the SBC in 2006, Louisiana has won five of six meetings. The Cajuns are seeking to extend their current five-match win streak over the Warhawks.

The Cajuns freshman duo of Ariel Krolikowski and Bethany Fogler has performed well in SBC play. Krolikowski leads the squad with a 2.61 kills per set average while Fogler had picked up 31 blocks and averages 1.35 blocks per set.

Lindsay Brown continues to be the story for Louisiana on the defensive side. The Yorba Linda, Calif., product is averaging 5.04 digs per set in SBC matches and is currently riding a string of eight consecutive matches with double figures in digs. Brown collected 38 digs over eight sets on the South Alabama-Troy trip.

Brown has 353 digs which leaves her 52 shy of tying her personal single-season best 405 set last season. She is also just 112 digs shy of joining the program's overall career Top 5 digs chart.

Krolikowski has recorded double figures in kills in four of the past six matches and has thrown down at least six in each match during the stretch. Against South Alabama she had 10 kills and 17 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.

Fogler has posted at least four blocks in each of the last five matches. She's the season leader in blocks with 59.

Kendra Hall stepped up on the USA-Troy trip after a rough start to SBC play. Hall hit .714 and tallied five kills at USA then hit .636 with seven kills at Troy. Hall has recorded 99.5 points this season, leaving her 12 points shy of setting a personal single-season best.

Amie Goodwin looks to shake off a stretch in which she's posted a negative hitting percentage in two of the last three outings. She did reach a milestone at South Alabama, going over 700 career kills to become just the fourth player at UL in the rally scoring era to reach that many career kills (Elizabeth Inman, Kim Rodgers and Elina Salomaki are the others).

Louisiana-Monroe's win total this season surpasses the combined total from the previous two seasons (went 2-62 from 2007-08). Sun Belt play has not been kind to the Warhawks as they are 2-59 all-time in league play and enter Monday night's match having suffered 54 consecutive SBC losses dating back to 2006.

It's a quick turnaround for the Warhawks who played at South Alabama Sunday afternoon. UL Monroe was swept by USA in straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-18. Mari O'Neal paced the offense with a career-high 24 kills.

O'Neal leads the Warhawks with 216 kills over 70 sets for a 3.09 kills per set average. Backing her up are Mahogany Dilonga with a 1.79 kills per set average and Stephanie Wardach with a 1.62 kills per set average.

The UL Monroe defense is anchored by Christy Tribble's 3.98 digs per set average. On the frontline the top blockers are Dilonga with 51 and Ashley Bland with 49.

Following Monday's match, the Ragin' Cajuns will take to the road for the Arkansas road swing over the weekend. Louisiana is in Jonesboro on Friday night for a meeting with Arkansas State and will be in Little Rock on Sunday afternoon for a match with UALR.

[snote]

got their 1st "sunbelt" win of the season.. good.. j.o.b,. !

[NewsCopy]

  Caroline Dufrene continues to step up for Louisiana. She finished Monday's match with UL Monroe with 15 kills and a .370 hitting percentage - the second time in the past three matches she's had at least 13 kills and a .370 percentage.

Louisiana's Lady Cajuns volleyball team collected its first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 25-27, 25-15) triumph over Louisiana-Monroe Monday evening at Earl K. Long Gym.

Caroline Dufrene (15 kills) and Amie Goodwin (12 kills) combined for 27 kills on 58 attempts to fuel the Ragin' Cajuns (7-15, 1-6 Sun Belt) who out-killed the visiting Warhawks 49-38.

The Cajuns hit .250 in the first set and followed up with a .273 clip in the second set to open a 2-0 lead. After the Warhawks (3-20, 0-8 Sun Belt) avoided the sweep, Louisiana sizzled with a .423 hitting percentage in the final set to wrap up the victory.

The Cajuns snapped an eight-match losing streak, overall, and recorded their first home win of the 2009 season.

Mandi Gavin and Bethany Fogler paced the frontline defense with five and four blocks, respectively. Gavin added seven kills, her third straight outing with at least seven kills.

Three UL players reached double figures in digs led by Amanda Cune's 15. Lindsay Brown collected 10 digs to extend her streak of consecutive matches with double figures to nine.

The Warhawks were led by Stephanie Wardach's 13 kills and .233 hitting percentage. Mari O'Neal backed her up with 11 kills. The top digger for UL Monroe was Lacey Dietlin with 12.

The Cajuns played from behind for first half of the opening set. Trailing 13-12, the hosts took the lead with a Goodwin kill and attack error by Dietlin. After the Warhawks pulled even at 14-all, UL scored on three straight rallies to jump ahead for good.

After UL Monroe closed the deficit to three points at 21-18 after a kill by Dietlin, Louisiana scored on four of the next five rallies. The final two points were service aces by Goodwin.

Louisiana's defense held the Warhawks to a .000 percentage in the second set and the team was vaulted ahead on the strength of four blocks.

Leading 10-8, the Cajuns scored on five of the next six rallies to open a 15-9 edge. Up 17-11, the Cajuns put away the Warhawks when Dietlin committed a service error, Fogler threw down a kill and then a pair of blocks was thrown up on Wardach attack attempts.

Louisiana would have finished off the visitors in three sets if not for a -.030 (9 kills, 10 errors, 33 attempts) hitting percentage in the third set. The Warhawks countered with 13 kills and a .212 percentage.

UL left little doubt in the fourth set, breaking a 3-all tie with a Goodwin kill. Then leading 8-6, scores on three straight rallies put UL Monroe on the edge. Duferene capped off the rally with one of her six kills in the set.

Dufrene was the catalyst that helped UL close out the Warhawks in the end. Up 21-14, she threw down two kills to give the Cajuns 23 points. Two rallies later she posted her sixth kill of the set to create set and match point.

Fogler and Ariel Krolikowski jumped up and blocked an attack attempt by Marissa Davis on the ensuing serve to end the set at 25-15 and give the Cajuns the match victory.

The win was the Cajuns' sixth straight over Louisiana-Monroe. Louisiana is now 6-1 against UL Monroe in Sun Belt play.

Head Coach Heather Mazeitis picked up her 248th career victory moving her within two of 250.

Louisiana returns to the road for three consecutive matches. First up is the Arkansas road swing which brings UL to Jonesboro for a meeting with Arkansas State on Friday at 7 p.m., and Little Rock on Sunday for a match with UALR at 3 p.m. The final leg of the trip is in New Orleans on Tuesday, Oct. 20 against the Privateers.

The next match at Earl K. Long Gym is set for Friday, Oct. 23 as the Ragin' Cajuns welcome Middle Tennessee for a 5 p.m. match.

UL SI

[snote]

kudo's and i know it must have been a grand time.. happy for each one of you girls..
anyone wearing red shoes? (smiles)

Louisiana posted the biggest win to date of the Heather Mazeitis Era, besting Sun Belt West leader New Orleans in five sets on the road Tuesday evening. Bethany Fogler led the way with 17 kills, .343 hitting percentage and seven blocks

ps. thanks matthew for the heads up..

[NewsCopy]

  Lindsay Brown (center) is quickly moving up the career digs charts at Louisiana. She enters this weekend needing only 20 to join the program's all-time career Top 5 and 33 to become only the fifth player to reach 1,200 in a career.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball libero Lindsay Brown is quickly becoming one of the top defensive players in program history.
The Yorba Linda, Calif., native came to Louisiana as an outside hitter and then switched to libero as a sophomore in the 2008 season.

What she's done has been nothing short of impressive as she has tallied at least 300 digs each season in her career and is currently putting the finishing touches on her second consecutive season with 400-plus digs.

Earlier this season, she became only the second player in the rally scoring era (Erika Castro the other) to surpass 1,000 career digs.

Now she's only 20 digs shy of cracking the all-time program career Top 5.

Brown enters this weekend's matches against Florida Atlantic and FIU with 1,167 career digs. With 21 more, she will pass Priscilla Lima (1,187) into fifth place and put herself on the doorstep of becoming only the fifth player in program history to reach 1,200 career digs.

Brown's track record has placed her on pace to finish with the most career digs in the rally scoring era (currently 1,589 by Erika Castro). This season, she has reached double figures in digs in 24 of the Cajuns' 27 matches and reached 20-plus seven times including her career-best 32 vs. North Texas.

Dating to last season, Brown has posted double figures in digs in 37 of her past 41 appearances on the court.

Career marks are not the only records that Brown is on the verge of reaching. She's preparing to etch her name into the single-season records also.

She has 445 digs this season which surpasses her previous best of 405 set last season.

The rally era best for digs in a season is 497 (Erika Castro in 2007), while the overall program single-season mark is 599 set by Jennifer Autry (1990).

Brown is on pace to finish with 543 which would mark only the fifth 500-plus digs season ever in program history and first since Gina Calegari posted 549 in 1997, and give her the rally scoring era single-season record.

UL Volleyball All-Time Career Digs Top 5
1. 2,043 Nia Kiggundu 1993-96
2. 1,589 Erika Castro 2004-07
3. 1,487 Gina Calegari 1995-98
4. 1,313 Annette Carney 1988-91
5. 1,187 Priscilla Lima 1999-02
----
1,167 Lindsay Brown 2007-present

UL Volleyball All-Time Single-Season Digs Top 5
1. 599 Jennifer Autry 1990
2. 566 Nia Kiggundu 1995
3. 564 Nia Kiggundu 1996
4. 549 Gina Calegari 1997
5. 497 Erika Castro 2007
497 Alisa Smith 1985
----
445 Lindsay Brown 2009

UL SI

[NewsCopy]

  Friday's match will be a "Think Pink" game in support of breast cancer research. For a small donation fans will be given pink ribbons to show their support in "digging for a cure" research; proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team wraps up a four-match homestand this weekend when they take on Florida Atlantic and FIU on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Friday's match with FAU (5-16, 3-9 Sun Belt) is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Earl K. Long Gym. The Cajuns (8-19, 2-10 Sun Belt) and FIU will serve it up at 1 p.m., Sunday afternoon.

Friday's match will be a "Think Pink" game in support of breast cancer research. For a small donation fans will be given pink ribbons to show their support in "digging for a cure" research; proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Pink t-shirts will be sold. Prior to the playing of the national anthem, a moment of silence will be held in memory of those who lost their battle against breast cancer.

Between the second and third sets, fans will have chance to win one of five pink shirts during the "Serving It Up" contest as well as a chance to win a Little Caesar's coupon. Prior to the start of the third set, names of family members from the UL and FAU volleyball teams impacted by breast cancer will be read.

The Cajuns' Lindsay Brown is only 20 digs shy of breaking into the program's all-time career Top 5 for digs. She has 445 this season and has recorded double digit digs 24 times.

Meanwhile, Kendra Hall will eclipse Erika Castro for most career sets played in the rally scoring era. Hall enters this weekend having played in 402 sets in her career. Hall has played in the second-most sets in the rally scoring era and joins Castro as the only players to reach 400-plus career sets.

In Sun Belt play, Ariel Krolikowski leads the squad with a 2.42 kills per set average while Bethany Fogler has picked up 55 blocks and averages 1.22 blocks per set. Krolikowski was the first Cajuns player to reach 100 kills in SBC play and is only 21 digs shy of reaching 300 for the season.

Dating back to Oct. 9 at South Alabama, Mandi Gavin has posted at least six kills in each match which included a stretch of seven straight matches with at least seven kills.

Amie Goodwin has 248 kills this season, leaving her just 52 shy of reaching 300 for the second time in her career (340 as a freshman in 2007).

The Ragin' Cajuns are 2-1 all-time against FAU and 7-6 all-time against FIU.

Florida Atlantic is led by Krystena Castro who hit .370 in three matches last week, raising her season average to .296. Christina Wallinger has had double-digit kills in five of her eight matches since being cleared to play, including a high of 21 last Tuesday vs. Florida Gulf Coast.

Joanne Marras Tate leads FAU in assists with 458. The top digger for the Owls is Cintia Nightingale with 219 over 69 sets.

FIU is coming off its sixth consecutive unbeaten weekend on Friday and Saturday as the Panthers knocked off UALR and Arkansas State. The FIU defense held the opposition to a combined attack percentage of .144 on the weekend and out-dug the competition 128-120. This is the best start in school history for the Panthers, who've won 14 straight matches.

FIU is led by Yarimar Rosa, who leads the SBC in average kills per set with 5.00. She has 200 kills on the season. Meanwhile, Natalia Valentin leads the league in assists per set at 12.12. She has 945 on the season.

FIU freshman Jovana Bjelica recorded a double-double in both matches on the weekend as she secured 13 kills and 19 digs in a five-set win over UALR.

The Golden Panthers will play matches at New Orleans (Friday) and Louisiana-Monroe (Saturday) before making the trip to Lafayette.

Following this weekend's matches, the Ragin' Cajuns will have only one home match remaining. That match will be held Friday, Nov. 13 against New Orleans.

UL SI

[wisconsincajun]

Keep diggin them up Lindsay! You are the "rock" on that team!

[reaper1]

Coach Mazeitis is a great person, coach, and will have ULL Volleyball seeing SunBelt Success very soon. Well done ladies on the season. Things (Wins, Recruiting, ULL Volleyball) will only get better as long as Heather is in charge. We all look forward to the future of ULL Volleyball.

Again, well done ladies.

[CajunSpools]

Yes my daughter and I have been following and making some games. So happy for
the team.

[CockyCajun]

Coach Mazeitis is a great person, coach, and will have ULL Volleyball seeing SunBelt Success very soon. Well done ladies on the season. Things (Wins, Recruiting, ULL Volleyball) will only get better as long as Heather is in charge. We all look forward to the future of ULL Volleyball.

Again, well done ladies.

Do you really hate UL ot just out of touch? Drop the double L
igeaux.mobi

[NewsCopy]

  Louisiana's Lady Cajuns volleyball team is on the road this weekend as they travel to Denver and North Texas for a pair of Sun Belt Conference matches.

The Ragin' Cajuns (8-21, 2-12 Sun Belt) will first take on Denver (14-14, 9-5 Sun Belt) at 8 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, Nov.7, followed by a match in Denton, Texas, against the Mean Green (10-17, 6-7 Sun Belt) on Monday, Nov. 9.

Louisiana is coming off a weekend which saw two personal milestones established.

Lindsay Brown moved in to the program's all-time career Top 5 for digs with her 1,188th career dig. She ended the Florida Atlantic match with 28 digs, which was her eighth 20-plus performance of the season and 25th double-digit mark overall.

Brown now has 477 digs this season, leaving her only 21 shy of breaking the rally scoring era, single-season mark set by Erika Castro in 2007.

The other milestone was Kendra Hall eclipsing Erika Castro for the most career sets played in the rally scoring era. Hall competed in her 406th career set in last Friday's match with FAU. She joins Castro as the only Cajuns to reach 400-plus career sets in the rally scoring era.

Hall has recorded 82 kills and 228 digs this season, both single-season bests for her.

The Cajuns are led by Amie Goodwin who has 261 kills on the season. Ariel Krolikowski is close behind her with 225. Krolikowski is only eight digs shy of notching a 200-kill, 300-dig season.

Assisting most of the kills is Hall who has recorded a total of 881 on the year.

On defense for the Cajuns, Brown's aforementioned tally leads the team in digs. Bethany Fogler leads the team in blocks with 89, putting her in fifth place in the Sun Belt Conference. Behind her is Mandi Gavin with 57. Fogler has 18 solo blocks on the season.

The Pioneers are led by Emmy Davidsmeyer who leads the Sun Belt in kills with 457 on the season. She has a .350 hitting percentage. Assisting Davidsmeyer will be Kresson Vreeman, a junior who has 895 assists on the year.

On defense for Denver, Davidsmeyer has recorded 99 blocks. Kacie Wikierak leads the team in digs with 394, putting her at seventh in the conference.

The Mean Green are led by Amy Huddleston who has 350 kills on the season, good enough for seventh in the conference. She is assisted by Kayla Saey, who has recorded 821 assists on the year. Saey has a 9.12 assists per set average.

Leading the defense for the Mean Green is Kati Dillard, who has 108 blocks, which is good enough for second in the conference. Most digs come from Sarah Willey, who has collected 320 on the season.

Louisiana met DU and NT earlier this season at Earl K. Long Gym the weekend of Oct. 2-4.

The Mean Green and Cajuns squared off on Saturday, Oct. 3 and UL almost overcame a 2-0 deficit in the match to pull off the win. NT held on for the win in the fifth set. Tied at 12-all, NT posted kills on consecutive rallies - one by Dillard and one by Brittani Youman. On match point, Ariel Krolikowski committed an attack error when she hit into a solo block throw up by Dillard ending the Cajuns comeback attempt.

UL and DU faced off on Sunday, Oct. 4 and the Pioneers took advantage of the Cajuns' lowest hitting percentage of the season to post a straight sets sweep. UL struggled all afternoon and finished with a -.008 hitting percentage (25 kills, 26 errors, 124 attempts). Conversely, Denver hit .304 and .208 in the first and second sets, respectively, and finished the match with a .198 percentage.

Following the matches, the Ragin' Cajuns return home to play their final home match of the season on Friday, Nov. 13 against Interstate 10 rival New Orleans at 7 p.m. Then the team wraps up the 2009 season on the road Sunday, Nov. 15 in Monroe with a 1 p.m., match against the Warhawks.

UL SI

[reaper1]

_ Do you really hate UL ot just out of touch? Drop the double L
igeaux.mobi _

Sorry Cocky Cajun UL there you go. Sorrt about the Double "L" press on my part.

[Boomer]

Get the girls from UNO to transfer here!!!!

[snote]

Sorry Cocky Cajun UL there you go. Sorry about the Double "L" press on my part.

ey reaper.. no worries here for sure.. although on a message board.. a_ul is, what a_ul does.. grins..

ps. i too, have tried to please the masses.. hence i spell my name w/1 L.. bil

psss. guy's night out tomorrow, thursday @ the wild salmon.. corner of dulles and foreman dr .. hope to see and meet many there

[NewsCopy]

  Senior setter Kendra Hall will be honored in a pregame ceremony Friday evening at Earl K. Long Gym. Hall will take to the court at E.K. Long for her 43rd and final match.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team wraps up the 2009 season with one last home match on Friday night and their final match on Sunday.

It will be Senior Night at Earl K. Long Gym on Friday as the Cajuns (8-23, 2-14 Sun Belt) battle New Orleans (17-11, 10-6 Sun Belt) at 7 p.m. Senior setter Kendra Hall will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Hall will take to the court at E.K. Long for her 43rd and final match.

Earlier in the season, Hall became just the third player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists. She enters the weekend with 3,608 assists - the second-most recorded by a UL player.

After concluding the home portion of the schedule on Friday, Louisiana closes out the 2009 season on Sunday in Monroe. The match with UL Monroe will begin at 1 p.m.

Lindsay Brown enters the final weekend needing just 10 digs to have 500 for the season. A 500-dig season would give her the rally scoring era record and place her in the overall, single-season Top 5. She would be the first person to reach 500 digs in a season since Gina Calegari did so in 1997.

The Cajuns are led by Amie Goodwin and true freshman Ariel Krolikowski who have 264 and 231 kills, respectively. Hall leads the team in assists with 922 and also has 240 digs on the season.

Krolikowski has 298 digs and 35 blocks. Fellow freshman Bethany Fogler leads the team in blocks with 94, 20 of which are solo. Fogler is fifth in the Sun Belt in blocks.

With four more digs, Krolikowski will reach 300. That would give her a 200-kill, 300-dig season as a freshman.

UL is seeking to win its home finale for the second straight season under head coach Heather Mazeitis. The last time the Cajuns ended the home slate with a win in back-to-back seasons was 1999 and 2000.

UNO clinched a Sun Belt Tournament berth with a 3-1 win over North Texas last Saturday. While the SBC tournament berth is ensured, UNO will need to win their remaining two conference matches and get a loss out of Denver in order to claim a share of the league's West Division title.

The Privateers are led by Lindsey Loyd who has 343 kills on the season. That is good enough for ninth in the Sun Belt Conference. Maria Szivos is second in kills with 317. Szivos also has 31 aces on 99 serves.

Defensively for UNO, Kaley Hubbard leads the way with 93 blocks on the season. NickyValenti is second in the Sun Belt in digs with 502.

Louisiana surprised the Privateers on Tuesday, Oct. 20 in New Orleans with a five-set victory. Louisiana was led by a career night from Fogler. The Ft. Wayne, Ind., native threw down a match-high 17 kills, recorded a .343 hitting percentage and posted seven blocks.

The Cajuns are looking for their first sweep of the season series with UNO since 2002.

Louisiana-Monroe is still looking for its first Sun Belt win of the season and first since 2006. Sun Belt play has not been kind to the Warhawks as they are 2-68 all-time in league play and enter this weekend having suffered 63 consecutive SBC losses

The Warhawks have won only two sets in Sun Belt play this season, being swept in 14 of their 16 conference matches. UL Monroe (3-28, 0-16 Sun Belt) will host UNO on Saturday before hosting the Cajuns on Sunday.

The Warhawks are led by Mari O'Neal who has 279 kills on the season. She is usually assisted by Meghan McCoy who has 725.

Defensively, UL Monroe is led by Christy Tribble who has 341 digs, good for fifth in the Sun Belt Conference.

Louisiana claimed a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 25-27, 25-15) win over the Warhawks on Monday, Oct. 12 at E.K. Long Gym. Caroline Dufrene (15 kills) and Amie Goodwin (12 kills) combined for 27 kills on 58 attempts to fuel the Ragin' Cajuns who out-killed the visiting Warhawks 49-38.

UL SI