University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
6-6
Southern
0-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern | 12 | 13 | 21 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Mirarchi and Meade Lead UL Past Southern
9/13/2011 2:18:00 AM | Volleyball
The Ragin' Cajuns have now won six straight matches at Earl K. Long Gym and 14 of the last 16 dating back to last season.
Louisiana (6-6) bounced back from a winless weekend at the CenutryLink Premier in San Marcos, Texas by posting a .247 hitting percentage and 11 service aces.
Lesley Mirarchi fueled the offense tallying 12 kills on 25 attempts. Mirarchi, who upped her season average to 2.54 kills per set, registered five kills in each of the first two sets.
Taylor Meade highlighted an improved night behind the service line for UL as she recorded a rally scoring era-best nine aces. As a team, the Cajuns limited their service errors to five after averaging 12 per match in San Marcos.
Freshman Caitlin Auxilien collected double figures in digs for the second straight match, notching 11 from the libero position.
The Jaguars (0-9) were led by Beonka Savoy and Amber Shelby who each accrued six kills. Southern made its first appearance at Earl K. Long Gym since October 1996.
A .385 hitting percentage helped UL cruise to a 25-12 win in the opening set. The Cajuns never trailed jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead on back-to-back kills by Mirarchi, a ball handling error by Southern's Chanda Journet and a Meade ace.
In the second set the Cajuns scored eight consecutive points off the serve of Auxilien to break a 2-all tie. The lead remained seven-plus points the remainder of the set.
Louisiana played from behind most of the third set after the Jaguars registered three kills and an ace during a 5-0 run that put the visitors in front 8-5.
SU stretched the advantage to 13-7 before a 7-0 run jumpstarted by a Tonice White kill then capped off by six straight points off the serve of Meade gave UL a 14-13 advantage.
The score was tied seven times over the next 15 rallies with UL forging the final tie at 21-all on another kill by White. Meade broke the stalemate with her fifth kill of the night then proceeded to serve up three consecutive aces to vault the Cajuns to a 25-21 victory that wrapped up the sweep.
This weekend the Ragin' Cajuns participate in their final tournament before Sun Belt Conference play begins when they travel to Arlington, Texas, for the UT Arlington Hilton Invitational. Louisiana is set to face UT Arlington, Prairie View A&M and Texas Tech.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
