University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Make Statement, Upset Privateers
10/21/2009 3:30:00 AM | Volleyball
The win is the biggest to date of the Heather Mazeitis Era and the biggest road win for the program since a five-set victory at UALR in November 2006.
The Privateers (14-7, 7-2 Sun Belt) entered the contest 7-1 in Sun Belt play and were coming off of a sweep of the Arkansas road swing. The Cajuns (8-17, 2-8 Sun Belt) provided the Sun Belt Conference with a glimpse of a team that is quietly maturing into a future contender.
Louisiana was led by a career night from Bethany Fogler. The Ft. Wayne, Ind., native threw down a match-high 17 kills, recorded a .343 hitting percentage and posted seven blocks.
The Cajuns balanced attack also featured a 12-kill performance from Mandi Gavin - her sixth straight match with at least seven kills - and 11 kills from Amie Goodwin. Backing them up was Caroline Dufrene (9 kills) and Ariel Krolikowski (8 kills).
Lindsay Brown collected 25 digs en route to establishing a new personal single-season best. Brown, who recorded her 12th straight match with double figures, now has 419 digs this season which surpasses her previous best of 405 set last season. It was her seventh 20-plus outing of the season.
As a team, Louisiana posted 13 blocks, hit above .200 in three sets and tallied seven service aces. Goodwin had three of the aces, moving her past 100 in her career making her the first player at UL in the rally scoring era to reach 100 career aces.
Lindsey Loyd and Maria Szivos posted double-double performances for UNO. Loyd tallied 17 kills and 13 digs while Szivos followed suit with 16 kills and 13 digs of her own. Nicky Valenti led both teams in digs with 27.
The teams traded set victories with UL claiming the first and third sets and UNO winning in sets two and four.
In the fifth set, the Cajuns took control when a block solo by Gavin broke a 5-all tie. A kill by Dufrene on the ensuing rally made it 7-5 and after the Privateers closed within one point following an attack error by Dufrene, Louisiana scored on three straight rallies to up the lead to 10-6.
UNO used a 6-3 run to cut the deficit to 13-12, but the Cajuns withstood the late rally thanks to a kill by Gavin and a set-and match-ending attack error by Szivos.
The attack error sent the Cajuns to the five-set victory and ended an eight-match losing streak to the Privateers.
The victory was the 247th career triumph for UL head coach Heather Mazeitis.
Louisiana returns home for a four-match homestand which begins Friday, Oct. 23 against Middle Tennessee (14-7, 7-1 Sun Belt). First serve with the Blue Raiders is scheduled for 5 p.m., at Earl K. Long Gym.
The homestand also features matches with Western Kentucky (Oct. 25), Florida Atlantic (Oct. 30) and FIU (Nov. 1).
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
