Volleyball Set to Take Court at Florida's O'Connell Center

Contact: Matt Hebert

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In what will be the most prestigious pre-conference tournament that the Ragin' Cajuns volleyball program has participated in to this date, action begins here Friday in the University of Florida's Active Ankle Challenge at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

The Active Ankle Challenge is hosted by the No. 15 University of Florida volleyball team, the highest ranked squad Louisiana (4-3) has faced in recent memory.

In addition to the Gators, UL is slated to meet traditional ACC power Georgia Tech and Jacksonville University during the two-day event that runs Friday-Saturday, Sept. 7-8.

The Cajuns and Yellow Jackets (5-1) kick off the Active Ankle Challenge at 4:30 p.m. (CDT) Friday afternoon.

Louisiana meets host-Florida (3-2) at 11 a.m. (CDT) on Saturday, and then concludes tournament play later that afternoon against Jacksonville (0-6) at 4:30 p.m. (CDT).

UL is meeting Florida and Georgia Tech for the first time. The Cajuns are 3-3 all-time vs. Jacksonville, all six prior meetings occurring when JU and UL were Sun Belt Conference foes (1991-97). The last Cajuns-Dolphins meeting took place Oct. 11, 1997 in Jacksonville, a 3-1 JU triumph.

While facing powerhouse teams such as UF and GT, the main objective for head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot this weekend at the O'Connell Center is simple.

“Our expectation of our team is to always give 100 percent effort, and to earn every point they get,” Mazeitis-Fontenot said. “We need to go in not thinking that it's Florida or Georgia Tech and play just like we would in our own gym.

“If our defense holds up then our offense will thrive. That's what we've told the team…just keep our defense alive. This will be a good test to see where we are and what we can do and can accomplish on the road.”

The weekend's action concludes a four-match road swing for Louisiana. The Cajuns started the road trek on Tuesday in Beaumont, Texas, dropping a 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-27) decision to the Cardinals which brought an end to a four-match winning streak.

Last weekend, Louisiana won the Bon Temps Invitational. Senior setter and Preseason All-Sun Belt honoree Mandi Gavin was named MVP of the tournament after hitting .500 on the weekend to go along with 116 assists.

During the Bon Temps Invitational, Gavin dished out 11.60 assists per set and ended each match during the tournament over 10 assists per set. Attacking from the front row, she managed to throw down 23 kills on just 42 attempts and committed only two attack errors (.500 hitting percentage) and had a hand in 11 of Louisiana's 19 blocks.

“Not only is she (Gavin) an excellent floor leader, but she is just getting the job done in every aspect of the game,” Mazeitis-Fontenot remarked. “We have asked her to become a more vital offensive threat which then opens it up for other attackers, and she's fulfilled that task. She's accepted a major larger role than anticipated and in doing that has made us a more balanced attacking team.”

The balanced attack that Gavin leads features five different players averaging over 2.00 kills per set. Topping the charts is Lavinia Tataran (2.96 kills/set) and Andrea Hole (2.56 kills/set).

UL features the second-most efficient offense in the Sun Belt Conference, with a season hitting percentage of .222 (344 kills, 131 errors, 959 attempts). The Cajuns hitting percentage has been above .200 in four of the past five outings.

Libero Caitlyn Auxilien leads the back row defense with a team-high 4.96 digs per set (124 digs over 25 sets). She ranks fourth in the SBC in digs per set.

Georgia Tech got off to its best start under head coach Tonya Johnson, claiming its first five matches of the season. The Yellow Jackets lost their first match of the season at the Indiana Invite last weekend to host Indiana in four sets (27-29, 25-27, 25-22, 23-25).

Monique Mead led the Tech offense with 20 kills. Bailey Hunter tallied her third double-double of the season with 19 kills and 10 digs, while Annie Czarnecki added a career-high 14 kills and Nicki Meyer put up a team-best 11 digs. Courtney Felinski also put up career numbers in the contest with 10 kills.

Florida is coming off the third annual Nike Big Four Classic, where the Gators dropped matches to then-No. 2 Texas (0-3: 27-29, 22-25, 24-26) and then-No. 9 Stanford (1-3: 25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 16-25) over the weekend. Florida is in the middle of a six-match stretch in eight days, having played two matches this past weekend before facing the Slovenian Junior National Team in an exhibition match on Monday.

Freshman outside hitter Živa Recek was named SEC Freshman of the Week for Florida's first weekly honor of the 2012 season. In Florida's match against Texas, Recek hit .475 and posted 22 kills, the highest kill output for a freshman in a 3-set match in Florida history. The performance ties her for third all-time in UF history in a 3-set match.

The Dolphins will be looking for their first win of the season, having lost their first six matches in 2012 under new head coach Michelle Collier. Sam Strausbaugh is their main offensive power with a team-high 79 kills and a 3.59 kills per set average. Tech is 1-2 all-time against JU.

UL's match with Florida will be streamed live on GatorVision, accessed at www.gatorzone.com.

Following the Active Ankle Challenge, the Ragin' Cajuns return home for the lone midweek non-conference match of the 2012 season hosting Southern on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Next weekend the Cajuns travel to Memphis, Tenn., for the Tiger Invitational hosted by the University of Memphis.

For all of the latest news and information on Ragin' Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow the athletics department on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/ULRaginCajuns along with @ULRaginCajuns on Twitter.

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Volleyball Set to Take Court at Florida's O'Connell Center

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