University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Red-Hot Cajuns Roll Over UNO In Straight Sets
10/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana-Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team found the cure for all their troubles this weekend: play matches at home instead of on the road.
For the second consecutive match, UL Lafayette dominated the opposition in cruising to an easy 3-0 (30-19, 30-15, 30-18) rout of New Orleans here Sunday at Earl K. Long Gym in a key Sun Belt Conference match for both teams.
With the win the Cajuns moved into sole possession of third place in the SBC West Division and remained in the hunt for one of eight spots in the league's tournament.
UL Lafayette has now won 24 of its last 26 matches within the friendly confines of Long Gym and posted back-to-back straight set sweeps for the first time since Oct. 20-22, 2000. The Cajuns held the opposition below 20 points in each game for the first time this season.
The Cajuns (8-11, 2-3 Sun Belt) were firing on all cylinders throughout the match as they finished with a season-best .354 attack percentage. Every Cajuns player but one attacked above .200.
Sophomore Stacey Cole led UL Lafayette with 15 kills on a .419 attack clip and true freshman Lesley Tough tallied a double-double (14 kills, 12 digs) to pace the Cajuns offense. Senior middle blocker Priscilla Lima led the Cajuns defensively with 14 digs and had a team-best .421 attack percentage. Fellow senior Clarice Laires led the squad with eight blocks.
UNO (7-12, 1-3 Sun Belt) struggled throughout the entire match. The Privateers hit only .062 as they were held below .100 for the second straight match. Twenty-seven attack errors and six reception errors added to the Privateers misery. The loss keeps UNO winless on the road this season.
In the first game neither team could gain a solid advantage as points were traded. The score was tied 14 times and the lead changed on seven occasions. The last tie came at 16-16 on a Mary Wanko kill. From there the Cajuns would take over.
Laires made it 17-16 on a kill off of UNO's next serve. UL Lafayette would go on a 5- 0 run on the serve of Lindsey Bermes. Three kills by Tough aided the Cajuns run which increased the lead to 22-16 on a Tough kill. UNO broke the run with a Wanko kill but the Cajuns closed out the match with an 8-3 run with Cole ending the game with a kill.
In game two, the Cajuns fell behind on the first serve only to regain the lead at 2-1 on a Beth Henson kill and never look back. After UNO tied the score at 7-7 on a Wanko kill, UL Lafayette rolled off a 23-8 run, which included the game's final nine points, to finish the game and take a commanding 2-0 lead.
The third and final game was all Louisiana-Lafayette. Never did the Cajuns trail as they jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead off the serve of Bermes. After UL Lafayette increased the lead to 7-2 on an attack error by Jennifer Cruz, the closest the Privateers could get was five points at 14-9. From there the Cajuns closed with a 16-9 run to end the game and claim the match, concluding with back-to-back kills from Laires.
Louisiana-Lafayette will conclude its current three-match
homestand on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 11 a.m. against SBC East Division foe Florida
International in Long Gym.
MATCH SUMMARY
New Orleans at Louisiana-Lafayette
Site: Lafayette, La.
(Earl K. Long Gym) Date: Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002
UL Lafayette 3, New Orleans 0
1 2 3
New Orleans (7-12, 1-3 SBC) 19 15 18
UL Lafayette (8-11, 2-3 SBC)
30 30 30
UNO: Kills 35 (Cruz 11, Boyle, Wanko 8);
Digs 43 (Wanko 10, Caravella, Howard 8); Assists 32 (Howard 28).
UL Lafayette: Kills
57 (Cole 15, Tough 14, Laires 12); Digs 56 (Lima 14, Tough 12, Laires 9);
Assists 46 (Henson 41).
A: 219 T: 1:19
