Cajuns Host Final Home Matches, Seek SBC Tournament Berth

The Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team plays its final home matches of the 2011 season and continues its push for a spot in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament, hosting the Arkansas schools this weekend at Earl K. Long Gym.

Louisiana (13-17, 5-9 Sun Belt) carries a three-match winning streak into the weekend action which begins Friday against Arkansas State (19-9, 10-4 Sun Belt) at 7 p.m. The Cajuns home finale is set for Sunday at 1 p.m., against UALR (10-18, 5-9 Sun Belt).

UL currently sits in a three-way tie for the seventh seed in the SBC Tournament which is scheduled for Nov. 17-19 on the FIU campus in Miami. The Cajuns are tied with Troy and UALR with just two matches remaining.

If the three-way tie persists following this weekend's matches, UL and UALR would qualify for the SBC Tournament based upon number of sets won in matches involving the teams. UALR has won five sets, UL has won four sets and the maximum sets won by Troy is three eliminating the Trojans.

The Cajuns lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Troy (15-13, 5-9 Sun Belt) as the Trojans posted a 3-1 (16-25, 25-11, 25-17, 25-19) win on Sept. 25. UL is already 1-0 vs. UALR taking a 3-2 (13-25, 39-37, 25-27, 25-14, 15-8) victory on Oct. 30 and can lock up the head-to-head tiebreaker with a win on Sunday.

Troy is hosting the Florida schools, meanwhile UALR visits La.-Monroe on Friday before the season finale showdown with the Ragin' Cajuns on Sunday.

The Cajuns are coming off a sweep of the Florida schools last weekend. UL defeated FAU in straight sets on Friday, then rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Sunday to defeat FIU in five sets.

Tonice White hit .423 over weekend in helping lead Louisiana to the sweep. The sophomore needed just 22 attempts to throw down 13 kills in the sweep of FAU. She followed up with 14 kills and a .367 hitting percentage in a five-set victory over FIU on Sunday, picking up 11 kills in the final three sets as the Cajuns rallied from a 0-2 deficit in the match.

Lesley Mirarchi tallied 30 kills during last weekend's matches increasing her career tally to 935 kills allowing her to her to move past Elizabeth Inman for the Cajuns rally scoring era career kills record. Mirarchi's marks bests the previous rally scoring era standard of 927 set by Inman from 2005-08.

Mirarchi also moved within 16 kills of reaching 300-plus for the second straight season. Last season she led the Cajuns with 364 kills.

Mirarchi and fellow senior Kerrilyn Lazare will be playing their final matches at Earl K. Long Gym. The duo will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to the start of the UALR match on Sunday.

Qualifying for the Sun Belt Tournament would benefit Taylor Meade who is on the verge of entering the Sun Belt's single season Top 5 for service aces in the rally scoring era. She presently leads the SBC with 45 aces and needs just eight more to join the list.

Head coach Heather Mazeitis, who recently moved within three wins of reaching 50 as Cajuns head coach, would become the first Cajuns coach since Chris Campbell in 2000-01 to lead the squad to consecutive appearances in the SBC Tournament. Mazeitis led Louisiana to the league's postseason event in 2010, marking the program's first appearance since 2002.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Host Final Home Matches, Seek SBC Tournament Berth

Next Event

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics