Louisiana Set to Renew Rivalry With Former Sun Belt Foe UNO

Contact: Matt Hebert

LAFAYETTE – The Ragin' Cajuns volleyball teams steps out of Sun Belt Conference play on Tuesday evening when they travel to New Orleans to face a former American South and Sun Belt Conference rival.

Louisiana (12-11) meets UNO (7-12) at 7 p.m., at the Human Performance Center on the UNO campus. The match will be streamed live on UNOPrivateers.com with stat updates also available.

The Ragin' Cajuns and Privateers, who were conference foes from 1987-2009, meet for the first time since UNO's farewell season in the Sun Belt in 2009. That season, the teams split a home-and-home with the visiting squad winning each time.

Tuesday night is likely going to be one remembered in the Cajuns record books. Senior setter Mandi Gavin enters the contest needing only 25 assists to reach 3,000 for her career. Should she reach the barrier against the Privateers, she would become only the fourth player in program history to amass 3,000 career assists.

Both UL and UNO are seeking to extend win streaks.

For the Cajuns, the squad enters on a two-match win streak after a crucial sweep of the Arkansas schools in Sun Belt action last weekend at Earl K. Long Gym. The Cajuns offense averaged 15.00 kills per set and hit .237 in the weekend sweep.

A win on Tuesday would also secure a winning non-conference mark for head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot and crew. Louisiana brings an 8-7 out-of-SBC record into the match with UNO with only two non-conference outings left on the schedule – both against the Privateers.

UNO has won its last two matches at home including a victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Monday. On the season, the squad is 3-3 at the HPC.

It's the first Tuesday evening affair for the Ragin' Cajuns since the ill-fated victory by forfeiture against Southern back on Sept. 11.

UL seems to have placed its offense back in stride as the squad prepares to enter the second half of Sun Belt play. The Cajuns hit above .200 in back-to-back matches in defeating ASU and UALR, ending a string of four straight matches below .200 and brining the season percentage back above .200. In the sweep of UALR, Louisiana hit above .200 in each set.

The middle blocking tandem of Blair Claypoole and Tonice White is coming off their best outing. In the UALR sweep, the duo combined for 21 kills which marked the highest combined output since exactly 21 kills at North Texas on Sept. 22.

Taylor Meade scored four service aces this past weekend, allowing her to surpass Lindsay Brown as the rally scoring era leader in career service aces with 122 (Brown had 120 from 2007-10). Meade is only a junior, so the chance to further extend the rally era standard exists.

Libero Caitlyn Auxilien posted her 18th and 19th double digit digs outings of the season, tallying 13 against both ASU and UALR. Auxilien now has 348 digs, moving her closer to becoming only the third player in the rally era to reach 400 digs in a season (Lindsay Brown and Erika Castro the others).

The Cajuns offense receives at least 1.96 kills a frame from five of its starters led by Lavinia Tataran with 2.60 kills a set. Tataran surpassed 200 kills in a season for the first time in her career following the first one she landed against Arkansas State.

Louisiana continues to serve tough, a factor coach Mazeitis-Fontenot utilizes to force opponents out of their comfort zone. The Cajuns lead the Sun Belt Conference in service aces, with 137, and have a quartet of players with 20-plus aces – Mandi Gavin (29), Andrea Hole (28), Taylor Meade (25) and Lavinia Tataran (24).

The Privateers' hottest hand on the offensive side as of late has been freshman Taylor Berry. The native of Houston, Texas has hit at a team-best .403 clip over the last four matches, averaging 3.4 kills a set and posting four straight matches with at least 10 kills.

Other key offensive leaders for UNO include Laila Hansen with 2.62 kills per set with Ariane Labrzycki atop the roster at 8.12 assists a frame. Elena Villar is first amongst the Privateers' servers with 19 aces through 19 matches.

The two programs are no strangers by any stretch. The two schools have played 90 previous matches with the Privateers holding a 48-32 edge, including a victory in the team's last meeting on Nov. 13, 2009 at Earl K. Long Gym.

The Cajuns came away victorious in the last meeting at the Human Performance Center on Oct. 20, 2009. That night the Cajuns took a five-setter from then-SBC West rival UNO behind Bethany Fogler's 17 kills on a .343 hitting percentage and seven blocks. The Cajuns balanced attack that night also featured a 12-kill performance from Mandi Gavin and 11 kills from Amie Goodwin. Backing them up was Caroline Dufrene (9 kills) and Ariel Krolikowski (8 kills).

The Privateers are conducting a “Dig for the Cure” promotion for Tuesday's match. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match in order to support the cause.

SET POINTS: UL has posted 43 wins dating back to 2010 and needs three more victories to equal the most recent best three-year stretch of 46 wins posted under Chris Campbell's guidance from 2000-02…Following the UNO match, the Cajuns return to Sun Belt play this weekend traveling to face Troy (Oct. 20) and South Alabama (Oct. 21)…Depending on the outcome of Tuesday's Arkansas State-UALR match, the Cajuns could be only one full game out of first place in the Sun Belt West division…Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's 60 wins as Cajuns head coach are third-most in program history trailing only Wilo Colon (136) and Sherry LeBas (111)…If the Cajuns finish 2012 with a winning mark, Mazeitis-Fontenot would become the first coach to notch multiple winning season as Cajuns head coach since Chris Campbell notched back-to-back in 2000 and 2001…UL and UNO meet again on Nov. 7 at Earl K. Long Gym in a match that will mark the final regular season outing for the Ragin' Cajuns.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana Set to Renew Rivalry With Former Sun Belt Foe UNO

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