University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Balanced Effort Helps Denver Hold Off Cajuns
10/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sunday, Oct. 3, 2004
DENVER – It was a good news-bad news scenario for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team Sunday afternoon in a Sun Belt Conference match against the University of Denver here at Hamilton Gymnasium.
The good news is that the squad's season-high, 10-match road trip finally came to a close and now the team will enjoy seven of its final 11 league contests on its own homecourt.
The bad news came in the form of the final outcome of the match.
Despite turning it a vastly improved outing from Friday's match at New Mexico State, the Ragin' Cajuns were victim of yet another straight sets defeat as Denver posted a 3-0 (30-24, 30-17, 30-23) victory.
Louisiana-Lafayette (3-14, 0-4 Sun Belt) turned in 40 kills – double-digits in each game – and 35 assists, both of which were team high totals since conference play began last Friday. The Cajuns also had a .108 attack percentage compared to the -.051 at NMSU.
Elina Salomaki paced the Cajuns' charge with her conference-best 12 kills and .206 attack percentage. Jessica Pattison joined Salomaki in double-digit kills with 11 to go along with a team-best three blocks.
Hollie Girouard posted a match-high 14 digs as she reached double-figures for the third straight match and improved her Sun Belt digs average to 4.33 (52 in 12 games).
DU (8-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) was able to shake off the visitors with a balanced attack that featured four players who tallied at least nine kills.
The Pioneers were sparked by a career-high 15 kills from freshman Sarah Wirth. DU tallied 49 kills, 46 assists, 55 digs and eight blocks.
A lack of balance wound up costing UL Lafayette.
Kim Rodgers had six kills to join Salomaki and Pattison in the offensive effort, but the remaining players failed to reach three or more kills.
Louisiana-Lafayette started off strong, out-killing the hosts 16-13 in game one. Errors were the Cajuns downfall, though, as UL Lafayette committed 12 attack errors in a game decided by just six points.
The Cajuns would limit their errors to seven apiece in the second and third games, but the Pioneers turned up the heat offensively posting 36 kills to just 24 for the Cajuns.
The loss was the Cajuns fifth straight overall and 11th straight on the road in Sun Belt play. Dating back to last season, Louisiana-Lafayette has dropped its last eight conference outings.
Now the Cajuns will focus on keeping the improved play alive and turning around their fortunes on the team's upcoming homestand.
UL Lafayette returns to action and opens a three-match homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 6 in a 7 p.m. match against I-10 rival New Orleans at Earl K. Long Gym.
The homestand also features matches with former Sun Belt foe Lamar on Thursday, Oct. 7 and current Sun Belt foe South Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 9. Both matches are set for 7 p.m.
MATCH SUMMARY
Louisiana-Lafayette at New Mexico
State
Site: Las Cruces, N.M. (Pan American Center)
Date: Friday, Oct. 1, 2004
Att: 889 Time: 1:16
Denver 3, Louisiana-Lafayette 0
1 2 3
UL Lafayette (3-14. 0-4 Sun Belt)
24 17 23
Denver (8-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) 30 30 30
Louisiana-Lafayette (3-14, 0-4 Sun Belt) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Salomaki 12-1-2; Pattison 11-0-3; Rodgers 6-0-3; Liverett 3-0-2; Harvey 2-0-0; Girouard 2-2-0; Webre 1-0-1; Aliaga 1-0-0; Castro 1-0-0; Stiefel 1-0-0; Totals 40-3-6.0. (Assists) - Stiefel 16; Harvey 15. (Dig leaders) - Girouard 14; Castro 8.
Denver (8-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Wirth 15-0-4; Millard 9-0-2; Muller 9-0-4; Hampton 9-0-1; Halt 6-0-2; Parker 1-1-1; Ball 0-0-1; Adamis 0-4-0; Totals 49-5-8.0. (Assists) - Parker 37. (Dig leaders) - Halt 13; Adamis 12; Miller 8.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
