University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Drop a Close One to Denver
10/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Friday, Oct. 3, 2003
LAFAYETTE – Nine points were all that separated Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team from its first conference win of the season as Denver posted a 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) win Friday night at Earl K. Long Gym in a Sun Belt Conference match.
The Pioneers (12-5, 3-0 Sun Belt) used a balanced attack getting 14 kills from Andrea Baron, 13 from Lisa Hunter, 11 from Mary England and 10 from Olympia Hughes. Libero Jen Karas paced the defense with 14 digs.
UL Lafayette (4-12, 0-3 Sun Belt) was led by Elina Salomaki's 10 kills. Lesley Tough tacked on eight kills while Beth Henson and Hope Webre each had six. Hollie Girouard led the team with 11 kills - her fifth straight match with double-digit digs.
Denver out-killed the hard-luck Cajuns 54-41 for the match including 24-14 in the first game. The Pioneers offense was kept on track all night long by setter Ashly Ball who ended the match with 45 assists.
UL Lafayette out-blocked the Pioneers 10-9 led by six blocks from Kim Rodgers and five from Hope Webre. Webre and Rodgers teamed together for four stuffs including three in a key stretch during game two in which the Cajuns rallied from a 17-10 deficit to tie the game at 20-20.
The loss was the fifth straight overall for Louisiana-Lafayette and fourth straight at home. DU snapped a three-match losing streak at Long Gym and improved its best start since joining the SBC to 3-0.
Louisiana-Lafayette is now 0-3 in Sun Belt play for the second straight season. Last year the Cajuns would bounce back from that 0-3 start to finish conference play at 9-5.
The Cajuns return to action Sunday with a 1 p.m. match against New Mexico State at Long Gym to conclude their current four-match homestand. NMSU has never won in Long Gym.
MATCH SUMMARY
Denver at
Louisiana-Lafayette
Site: Earl K. Long Gym (Lafayette, La.)
Date: Friday, Oct. 3, 2003
Att: 189 Time: 1:39
Denver
3, Louisiana-Lafayette 0
1
2 3
Denver (12-5, 3-0 SBC)
30 30 30
UL Lafayette (4-12, 0-3 SBC) 27 27 27
Denver (12-5, 3-0 Sun Belt) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Baron, Andrea 14-1-6; Hunter, Lisa 13-1-2; England, Mary 11-0-3; Hughes, Olympia 10-1-1; Halt, Kristin 6-0-1; Adamis, Sarah 0-1-0; Ball, Ashly 0-0-3; Totals 54-4-9.0. (Assists) - Ball 45. (Dig leaders) - Karas 14; Hunter 12; Halt 10
Louisiana-Lafayette (4-12, 0-3 Sun Belt) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Salomaki, Elina 10-1-3; Tough, Lesley 8-1-3; Webre, Hope 6-0-5; Henson, Beth 6-2-1; Liverett, Stacy 3-0-1; Pattison, Jessica 3-0-0; Harvey, Tami 2-0-0; Bermes, Lindsey 2-0-1; Rodgers, Kim 1-0-6; Total 41-4-10.0. (Assists) - Henson 21; Harvey 12. (Dig leaders) - Girouard 11; Harvey 10; Henson 8
-Ragin' Cajuns-
