University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
8-9, 0-1Sun Belt
South Alabama
6-7, 1-0Sun Belt
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 23 | 16 | 25 | 14 | 1 |
| South Alabama | 25 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 3 |
Sun Belt Opener Goes Jaguars Way
9/24/2011 3:11:00 AM | Volleyball
Louisiana (8-9, 0-1 Sun Belt) saw a two-match win streak come to an end with the loss. The Cajuns couldn't keep up with the Jaguars' pace as the hosts finished with a 57-39 advantage in kills and .243 hitting percentage.
Lesley Mirarchi led the Cajuns with nine kills, followed by Kerrilyn Lazare with eight. The trio of Blair Claypoole, Taylor Meade and Tonice White each accounted for six kills.
The Cajuns posted a season-high 12.5 blocks. Claypoole, Lazare and Mirarchi each collected five blocks.
South Alabama (6-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) hit above .200 in each set victory and was led offensively by the 14 kills off the hands of Maureen Ros.
Ros single-handedly rallied the Jags to the victory in the opening set. Trailing 23-21, Ros notched a kill on the next two rallies to forge the 13th tie of the set, then after a Taylor Meade attack error gave USA the lead, Ros tallied set point with another kill.
USA rode a .310 hitting percentage to a convincing win in the second set. The Jaguars notched 13 kills on just 29 attempts.
Louisiana stayed alive battling through six lead changes in the third set before posting a 25-21 triumph. The final lead change came when kills from Mirarchi and Lazare erased a 10-9 USA lead. That was the first of six straight points that opened a 15-10 Cajuns advantage.
After the Jaguars cut the UL lead to 22-21 a kill by Meade returned the serve to the Cajuns. A block thrown up by Claypoole and Lazare followed by a Lazare kill kept the Cajuns alive.
USA ended any hopes of a Cajuns rally by turning in a sizzling .355 hitting percentage (16 kills, 5 errors, 31 attempts) in the fourth set, breaking open a 14-11 contest by scoring on 11 of the final 14 rallies.
Louisiana wraps up the opening weekend of Sun Belt action at Sartain Hall in Troy, Ala., for a meeting with the Trojans (11-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) at 1 p.m., on Sunday.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
