University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Come Up Short In Homestand-Opener With UNO
10/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004
LAFAYETTE - In a match where each game was decided by single-digits, New Orleans used a 70-54 edge in the kills department to post a 3-1 (30-26, 30-22, 28-30, 30-24) victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team here Wednesday night at Earl K. Long Gym.
The match was the beginning of a three-match homestand for Louisiana-Lafayette and marked the Ragin' Cajuns first home appearance since Sept. 7.
The Privateers (12-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) spoiled the Cajuns welcoming home match by tallying at least 16 kills in each game of the match.
Louisiana-Lafayette (3-15, 0-5 Sun Belt) posted conference-season bests in kills (54), assists (41), digs (89) and blocks (11).
The loss was the sixth consecutive for the Cajuns overall and kept the squad winless on its homecourt through six matches.
UL Lafayette's 30-28 victory in game three averted a straight sets sweep and was the squad's first game victory of the conference season.
Hope Webre tallied a team-high 12 kills to pace the Cajuns offensive efforts. Elina Salomaki posted 11 kills for her second straight match in double-figures.
Four UL Lafayette players tallied double-digit digs with Hollie Girouard's match-high 20 digs leading the way. Erika Castro and Courtney Zimmer each collected 16 digs.
UNO's Jennifer Cruz tallied a match-high 22 kills and was joined in double-figures by Jessica Helgeson (15), Hillary Carr (13) and Christine Zimmer (10).
The Privateers placed five players in double-digit digs which was key in keeping the Cajuns' attackers from putting down the kill.
UNO escaped with a hard-fought victory in game one.
The lead changed hands six times and the game saw 11 tied scores. Trailing 23-22, the Privateers used a key 6-1 run to clinch the game.
After a 30-22 loss in the second game, the Cajuns rebounded from a slow start in game three by using a rally midway through to create just enough cushion to hold off a late Privateers rally.
UL Lafayette fell behind 3-0 then reeled off five straight points to take the lead.
After the lead change the Cajuns managed to stay ahead the rest of the game.
Tied 10-10, Louisiana-Lafayette got four unanswered points and later broke open a 14-12 game with a 5-1 run.
UNO would tie the game 27-27. The Cajuns avoided a momentum swing with a Salomaki kill to retake the lead. An attack error by Carr increased the Cajuns advantage to two points.
Cruz pulled UNO within one point with a kill, but the Cajuns used a kill from Castro to stake claim to the game and force a fourth game.
A slow start cost the Cajuns the chance to force a decisive fifth game.
UL Lafayette fell behind 11-3 and saw its deficit reach as large as 11 points.
Trailing 24-13, the Cajuns worked their way back into the game with a 6-2 run that cut the lead to 26-19.
That's where Jessica Helgeson took over and helped the Privateers avoid a meltdown. She ended a string of four straight Cajun points with a kill to give UNO a 27-19 edge.
After the Cajuns were successful in registering a string of three points to pull within five points, Helgeson stepped up and put down another kill to make it 28-22.
The Cajuns crept within four points after a service error from Cruz and attack error on Dobrilla Kovacevic.
Once more Helgeson was there to squelch the rally and a kill from Carr on the next serve delivered the Privateers a match victory.
With the win, UNO snapped a string of eight consecutive losses at Earl K. Long Gym.
Louisiana-Lafayette continues its current three-match homestand on Thursday, Oct. 7 in a 7 p.m. match against former Sun Belt rival Lamar. The homestand wraps up Saturday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. against South Alabama.
MATCH SUMMARY
New Orleans at Louisiana-Lafayette
Site: Lafayette, La. (Earl K. Long Gym)
Date: Oct 06, 2004 Attend: 312 Time: 1:55
New Orleans 3, Louisiana-Lafayette
1
1 2 3 4
UNO (12-3. 3-1 Sun Belt)
30 30 28 30
UL Lafayette (3-15. 0-5 Sun Belt)
26 22 30 24
New Orleans (12-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Cruz 22-5-3; Helgeson 15-3-1; Carr 13-0-6; Zimmer 10-3-1; Mikuski 3-0-0; Bayley 3-0-0; Bauer 2-0-1; Kovacevic 2-0-0; Duncan 0-2-0; Totals 70-13-7.0. (Assists) - Mikuski 27; Bayley 26. (Dig leaders) - Zimmer 19; Duncan 16; Mikuski 15; Kovacevic 12; May 10; Bauer 9.
Louisiana-Lafayette (3-15, 0-5 Sun Belt) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Webre 12-0-3; Salomaki 11-2-3; Liverett 9-0-8; Harvey 8-0-0; Rodgers 7-1-3; Castro 4-0-0; Pattison 2-0-2; Stiefel 1-2-1; Girouard 0-2-0; Totals 54-7-11.0. (Assists) - Harvey 20; Stiefel 20. (Dig leaders) - Girouard 20; Castro 16; Zimmer 16; Salomaki 11.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
