University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Owls Sneak by Cajuns in Fifth Set
10/31/2009 3:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Florida Atlantic scored on the match's final five rallies to erase a 14-11 deficit in the fifth set and escape Earl K. Long Gym with a 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 20-25, 16-14) victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns Friday evening in a "Think Pink" match held in support of breast cancer research.
Louisiana (8-20, 2-11 Sun Belt) jumped in front in the final set on a kill by Mandi Gavin that made it 4-3. The Cajuns stretched the lead out to as many as four points, twice, with the last being 11-7 following a block thrown up by Bethany Fogler and Amie Goodwin.
In the end, the Owls (6-16, 4-9 Sun Belt) parlayed a 13-5 edge in kills to take the set and the match. Following a kill by Caroline Dufrene that put UL up 14-11, the Owls finished off the match with kills on five consecutive rallies.
The loss spoiled a milestone moment for Cajuns' libero Lindsay Brown. With her 21st dig of the match, Brown joined the program's all-time career Top 5 with her 1,188th career dig. She finished the evening with a match-high 28 digs - her eighth 20-plus performance of the season - to up her career total to 1,195.
Brown's season total is now at 473, which puts her only 25 shy of setting the rally scoring era single-season record and joining the program's all-time, single-season Top 5 list.
The Ragin' Cajuns were led by 14 kills from Gavin. She finished with a .303 hitting percentage and recorded her ninth straight match with at least six kills.
Joining Gavin in double figures in kills were Fogler (13 kills, 5 errors, 23 attempts, .348 hitting percentage) and Ariel Krolikowski (10 kills). Krolikowski added 11 digs and Gavin 10, to record their sixth and first-ever double-doubles, respectively.
The Owls were spearheaded by a match-high 25 kills off the hands of Christina Wallinger. She added 12 digs and four blocks.
FAU threw down 18 kills which proved to be the difference in an otherwise tightly contested opening set. There were 13 tied scores and four lead changes with neither team gaining a lead larger than three points.
Louisiana recovered from losing an early 3-0 lead to take the second set. FAU scored on four straight rallies to pull in front 4-3. The Cajuns responded with a kill by Fogler and then five straight points off the serve of Brown to take control.
Up 14-11, the Cajuns created enough cushion with a 5-1 run. The run began with a Kendra Hall kill, then a kill by Dufrene was followed by a block solo from Fogler that made it 17-11. The Owls broke serve, then Louisiana came back with kills from Dufrene and Goodwin for a 19-12 lead.
The Owls crept within three points at 21-18, but a service error by Wallinger returned the serve to the Cajuns who scored three straight points off of Goodwin's serve to complete the set victory.
In a similar script to the second set, the Owls erased a 3-0 UL lead at the start of the third set. Only this time, the Cajuns didn't recover. The key point came when a Wallinger kill allowed FAU to tie the set at 8-all, then an attack error by Goodwin put the visitors in the lead. A Cintia Nigthingale ace was followed by a kill from Kristyna Dzmuranova that made it 11-8.
Leading 11-9, the Owls used a 6-2 spurt the push their advantage to 17-11 and never looked back.
The Cajuns out-killed FAU 16-12 in the fourth set and hit .243 to put themselves in the position to take the match in the fifth set.
The squads started the fourth set going back-and-fourth through the first eight rallies. Fogler notched kills on three straight rallies to put the Ragin' Cajuns in command at 7-4. The hosts never looked back and posted a 25-20 victory that evened the match.
Louisiana will take Saturday to regroup and prepare for Sunday's match with Sun Belt Conference powerhouse FIU. The Golden Panthers will bring a 22-2 (12-0 Sun Belt) record into a Saturday afternoon match at Louisiana-Monroe before traveling to Lafayette to meet the Cajuns.
UL and FIU will serve it up at 1 p.m., from Earl K. Long Gym on Sunday, Nov. 1.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
