The Book 2005-06 UL Lady Cajuns Volleyball

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. – Louisiana Director of Athletics Nelson Schexnayder announced Tuesday he has named Amy Kraljev, previously an assistant coach for the past three seasons with the school, as the Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball program's 11th head coach.

Kraljev, a native of Portland and alumnus of the University, replaces Becky Madden who resigned last month. Her hiring is pending approval from the University of Louisiana Board of Trustees and she will officially take over the post on June 6.

Kraljev spent the previous six years involved with the Ragin’ Cajuns program either as a player or a coach.

She lettered for two seasons under Chris Campbell during the 1999 and 2000 seasons after transferring from Clackamas Community College. In 2001, Kraljev served as a student coach under Campbell and was hired on as an assistant coach when Madden arrived in 2002 serving in that capacity until her current appointment.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” Kraljev said. “I’ve been a part of this program for six years as a student, athlete, assistant and now the head coach – everything has come full circle for me.

“I’m anticipating great things happening in the volleyball program,” Kraljev added. “I’m grateful to be a part of its past, present and most importantly its future.”

Under Madden, Kraljev served as the program’s head recruiting coordinator and handled the team’s defensive instruction and serving techniques. She also handled the Cajuns’ marketing and promotion efforts along with supervising the team’s community service projects.

As a player, Kraljev was a member of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 2000 team which won the most Sun Belt matches in program history. As a senior, the squad posted 11 SBC wins and she led the team with 378 digs.

Kraljev received her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana-Lafayette in December 2001.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana Director of Athletics Nelson Schexnayder announced Tuesday he has named Amy Kraljev, previously an assistant coach for the past three seasons with the school, as the Ragin' Cajuns volleyball program's 11th head coach.

Kraljev, a native of Portland and alumnus of the University, replaces Becky Madden who resigned last month. Her hiring is pending approval from the University of Louisiana Board of Trustees and she will officially take over the post on June 6.

Kraljev spent the previous six years involved with the Ragin' Cajuns program either as a player or a coach.

She lettered for two seasons under Chris Campbell during the 1999 and 2000 seasons after transferring from Clackamas Community College. In 2001, Kraljev served as a student coach under Campbell and was hired on as an assistant coach when Madden arrived in 2002 serving in that capacity until her current appointment.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity," Kraljev said. "I've been a part of this program for six years as a student, athlete, assistant and now the head coach - everything has come full circle for me.

"I'm anticipating great things happening in the volleyball program," Kraljev added. "I'm grateful to be a part of its past, present and most importantly its future."

Under Madden, Kraljev served as the program's head recruiting coordinator and handled the team's defensive instruction and serving techniques. She also handled the Cajuns' marketing and promotion efforts along with supervising the team's community service projects.

As a player, Kraljev was a member of the Ragin' Cajuns' 2000 team which won the most Sun Belt matches in program history. As a senior, the squad posted 11 SBC wins and she led the team with 378 digs.

Kraljev received her bachelor's degree from Louisiana in December 2001.

LOUISIANA SI

[JMV JustMyView]

Congrads on the promotion. Looks like we just promoted within. Nothing wrong with that.

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns opened practice for the 2005 volleyball season on Wednesday at Earl K. Long Gym, and it was easy to see how eagerly first-year head coach Amy Kraljev has awaited the opportunity to lead the program.

"It's absolutely exciting," said Kraljev, who ascended to the top position when Becky Madden resigned earlier this year. "So much has been going on in the last few days. Yesterday we had check-in, physicals, photos, and I was totally antsy.

"Today is our first team practice, and it's exciting for both of us (nodding toward first-time assistant Summer Campbell), too."

Both coaches are ready to put their signature on the Cajun program, which finished 7-23 in 2004 and begins the 2005 campaign Aug. 26 at home against Rice University.

"I've taken little things from every coach I've worked under, and I've worked with all sports," Kraljev said. "Negatives, positives, I've taken something from all the resources I can. Then I mold that into what I want to do.

"I was a sponge to Becky's style last year, so in a lot of ways we're very similar."

Kraljev did promise that UL fans would see "a lot of communication, a lot of discipline and hard work ... a lot of hard work. Our players will go all-out. You never know what you can do until you give it everything you have.

"We're also going to encourage each other."

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun volleyball team has switched gears this week, moving from individual drills to team strategies in preparation for the opening weekend of competition.

The Cajuns host Rice tonight at 7 p.m. at Earl K. Long Gym, to be followed by a 7 p.m. Saturday matchup against McNeese State, as coach Amy Kraljev begins her first year at the helm of the program.

"It's progressing the way I thought it would," said Kraljev, who succeeds Becky Madden as head coach after serving as Madden's assistant.

Half the UL roster is new, so fans will be in for a different look in more ways than one.

"There won't really be surprises to me, but we have a lot of newcomers with the freshmen and transfers so there will be players the fans won't know," Kraljev said.

"Tara Cote, a transfer from North Carolina A&T, is our starting setter. She's kind of the quarterback of the team, and she continues to bring leadership to the team."

That unknown element - a new coach and new personnel - will keep foes guessing until they can get a working scouting report on the Cajuns in 2005.

"I think it definitely is an advantage for us," Kraljev said. "Rice hasn't been in our gym in a long time, if ever, and they're used to playing in larger facilities. If they come in here and we have 200 people here, it sounds like 1,000.

"That will require a little adjustment for them, and hopefully they won't adjust until it's over."

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[shof]

Very cool opening script

[cajunvbmom]

My daughter is a freshman on the volleyball team...I sure hope they have alot of support. I'm very excited about the Volleyball Season...wish I could be there for their first game...GOOD LUCK LADIES!

Geaux Cajuns!

[gorcajun]

Keep the Ragin Cajun faithful informed with inside information on the team and your daughter. Thanks.

[RaginDave]

Keep the Ragin Cajun faithful informed with inside information on the team and your daughter. Thanks.

They unfortunately lost tonight in the home opener to a very good RICE team. Rice is predicted to win the WAC.

Geaux Cajuns, outplayed tonight by a better team, but we have many games we are going to win.

Also the Lady Cajun Soccer team lost tonight to USM 5-2 in there opener.

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns knew the Rice Owls would be a difficult opening assignment.

Rice was 25-5 last season and has aspirations on a national scale, while the Cajuns took the Earl K. Long Gym floor for the first time under coach Amy Kraljev.

So Friday's 30-17, 30-22,30-22 Owls victory was not a shocking outcome. But the Cajuns learned some things about themselves in the process.

"I think we underestimated ourselves when we came out," Kraljev said. "We had to realize that the other side is human, and they're going to make mistakes. Once we figured that out, we realized we can fight with them. We can compete."

"Rice is a really good team," said junior Kim Rodgers, who had seven kills without an error. "I think that got in our heads a little bit. But after that, we gave them a run for their money.

"We had to find out their weaknesses and strengths, and pick up where they like to hit it. We communicaed better, then we got on top of our game."

Indeed, the second and third games were more competitive contests.

"We started communicating better on defense," Kraljev said. "Some of our early problems there came from people worrying about playing their position instead of focusing on the team concept."

The Cajuns' best moment came with Rodgers serving, as UL rallied to within 18-17 in the third game. But the veteran Rice squad was up to the challenge posted by the underdog Cajuns.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

RUSTON - The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team was clipped by Louisiana Tech in yet another five-game thriller here Tuesday night at the Thomas Assembly Center. La. Tech claimed the two-hour, 35-minute, marathon - the first meeting between the two schools in Ruston since Nov. 14, 1999 - 3-2 (32-30, 26-30, 30-27, 28-30, 20-18). Tuesday's match was the first road game for UL under the direction of coach Amy Kraljev. Just three nights removed from a five-game defeat to the Lady Techsters in the championship match of the Scott Clause Advertising Classic hosted by UL in Lafayette last Saturday, the Cajuns dropped the mid-week battle to Tech in almost similar fashion. This time it was the Ragin' Cajuns rallying from a 2-1 match deficit by taking the fourth game to force a fifth game. Like last Saturday, though, Tech rallied from a deficit in the fifth game to steal the match and hand the Cajuns another heartbreaking defeat. Tuesday's loss was harder to take for the Ragin' Cajuns (2-4). UL gave up a late lead in the fifth game and had several chances to finish off the Techsters. UL held a 14-10 lead in game five and needed only one more point to take the victory. Tech reeled off four straight points to force a tie and extend the game. The Cajuns had several chances to close out the Techsters, but could never get the decisive point. For the second straight meeting, the statistics showed just how evenly matched the two clubs are. Both teams posted over 100 digs. Louisiana Tech had 112 digs while UL tallied 106 digs. Tech held a 82-73 edge in kills, UL led blocks 11-8 and the team hitting percentages were .192 to .190 in favor of the Techsters. Individually, Elina Salomaki posted a double-double for the Cajuns as she registered 19 kills and collected 29 digs. Kim Rodgers was a close second with 15 kills. Erika Castro tallied a match-best 31 digs for the Ragin' Cajuns. Castro's dig total is the highest in program history during the rally scoring era. Tara Cote dished out a career-high 63 assists for UL. Tech received a match-high 25 kills from Shannon Phillips. The Lady Techsters had six players reach double digits in digs with Anielle Da Silva, Meghan Haas and Jillann Walker each piling up 19 digs. Louisiana returns to action this weekend as the squad travels to Tulsa, Okla., to participate in the Crowne Plaza Invite hosted by the University of Tulsa. The round robin tournament is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, Sept. 9-10. UL will face Tulsa at 7 p.m., on Friday in its tournament opener. LOUISIANA SI

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LOUISIANA La. – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team snapped a six-match losing streak by riding a balanced attack to a 3-0 (34-32, 30-23, 30-26) victory over South Alabama here Saturday evening at Earl K. Long Gym. All six position players each posted at least five kills for UL (4-12, 1-2 Sun Belt) which notched its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season. It was the first SBC victory for head coach Amy Kraljev. Louisiana defeated South Alabama for the 16th time in the last 17 meetings. Elina Salomaki led the Cajuns with a match-high 17 kills – her fifth straight double-digit performance and ninth overall this season. Jamara Saad added nine kills, Erika Castro had eight, Kim Rodgers posted seven and Liz Inman and Tara Cote each collected five kills to pace the balanced effort by the hosts. The Cajuns team hitting percentage was .248 (52 kills, 20 errors, 129 attempts). It marked the second straight match that UL posted a team hitting percentage above .200 (UL hit .220 in Friday’s match with Troy). UL’s serve receive was the difference in a match decided by only 13 total points. The Cajuns committed only two reception errors the entire match compared to eight reception errors by USA (6-12, 0-5 Sun Belt). The Cajuns jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match and rallied from a 20-13 deficit in game three to complete the sweep. UL outscored USA 17-6 to make sure that there wasn’t any chance of a repeat of Friday’s performance with Troy. Trailing 23-19, UL scored five straight points off the serve of Saad to take a 24-23 lead. After a service error by Saad evened the scored, the Cajuns got back-to-back kills from Castro and Salomaki, respectively, to take a 26-24 lead. The Cajuns never lost the lead and completed the sweep. Game one was tightly contested. The score was tied 18 times and largest lead either team had was four points. UL led 21-17 only to see USA rally and cut the lead to 22-21. The Jaguars stayed within one or two points the rest of the way, and claimed the lead 32-31 on a block by Brittan Blackwelder and Katie Wilhelm. After a timeout, UL responded with three straight kills to take the 34-32 win. Cote ended the game with a quick dump into the back corner of the court out of the reach of the USA back row. Louisiana takes to the road for the next two matches. The Ragin’ Cajuns will be in Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15 taking on Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock respectively. UL will face ASU on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. LOUISIANA SI

[DaddyCajun]

Great, it must be the new Maple wood court advantage.

DaddyCajun!

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A star volleyball player in her homeland, Salomaki last represented Finland in the 2003 European Championships. But it's been years since she has called that Scandinavian nation home. She first left home for Australia, where she learned English and met future UL basketball center Chris Cameron - two crucial elements to her eventual arrival in south Louisiana. Shortly after she got here, UL coach Chris Campbell left for Mississippi University for Women and Salomaki followed - staying for a year before returning to the Cajuns. Now she's a senior helping newcomers to understand the challenges ahead. "I was in Australia for two years," Salomaki said. "It was kind of awkward at first because I couldn't speak the language. But it was a motivating thing, too. "My mom was OK with it. She let me go. I had expected to stay for six months and I stayed for two years. I had a good job, and had no reason to leave until I got the opportunity to go to college." By the time she got to Australia, Salomaki was tired of competitive athletics. "I had traveled a lot, had played for a lot of teams, and I was worn out," she said. "I did a lot of things in Sydney. I got into coaching and I started to miss it. I couldn't help it." Meeting Cameron helped shape Salomaki's future. "I had quit, and Chris kept pushing me to play again," Salomaki said. "Now we're both playing our senior years here. Chris is a good friend of mine, and having him here makes me feel at home." She also feels a connection with her younger teammates. "I love the freshmen," Salomaki said. "They're like little sisters, and I'm very protective of them. We're all like sisters. We're very close." The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

Wish I could say I saw a win but I did see a hard fought game