Cajuns Fight Back After Tough Opening Set, Fall to Buffs 3-0

Contact: Matt Hebert

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HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team opened a 4-2 lead over Colorado at the start of Saturday's match in the Sam Houston Invitational, then the Buffaloes reeled off six straight point to capture momentum on the way to a straight sets sweep.

Colorado (2-0) defeated UL by set scores of 25-14, 25-20, 25-21 to keep the Cajuns seeking their first win of the young 2012 season.

The Cajuns battled back in the second and third set, but just couldn't complete the rally dropping the final two frames by five and four points, respectively.

Blair Claypoole and Lavinia Tataran led Louisiana with eight kills apiece. Claypoole accounted for a team-best 9.5 points and hit .500 committing only two attack errors and needing just 12 attempts to net her production. Tatran led UL in kills for the second straight match (had team-best 15 vs. Sam Houston on Friday).

Libero Caitlyn Auxilien finished with nine digs, while Taylor Meade contributed six to the Cajuns defensive efforts. Preseason All-Sun Belt selection Mandi Gavin dished out 26 of UL's 31 assists.

Sophomore Emily Alexis led the Buffs with a match-high 13 kills in the victory. Nikki Lindow hammered nine kills and Alexis Austin recorded eight. The Pac-12 program ran its offense efficiently, finishing with a .362 hitting percentage by throwing down 49 kills against 15 errors over 94 attempts.

Louisiana seeks to leave Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum with a victory when the squad faces Texas Southern at 4 p.m. The match will be streamed, although a subscription is required. More information on streaming is located at GoBearkats.com.

UL's early lead in the opening set stemmed from kills by Andrea Hole and Tataran on consecutive rallies which broke a 2-all tie. CU's 6-0 run was fueled by three kills from Kerra Schroeder and opened a lead the Buffs would not lose.

A Gavin kill cut the CU lead to 12-8, CU followed up by taking the following five points for a 17-8 advantage. Benefitting from a .417 hitting percentage and 80 percent sideout success, the Buffs were able to finish the set 25-14.

Despite trailing from start-to-finish in the middle frame, the Cajuns battled back from an eight-point deficit (17-9) by eventually trimming the deficit to 20-16 following a Tataran kill. A 3-1 run had UL within three points, 22-19, but back-to-back kills, one from Lindow and one from Alexis stretched the Buffs lead to five points.

There were three ties and a pair of lead changes in the final set. Louisiana erased an early 4-1 deficit with four unanswered points, two points coming off kills by Tataran and Hole, to jump in front 5-4. Tied at 6-6, Colorado strung together a 6-1 run to create just enough cushion to hold off the Cajuns in the end.

A Kelly Wiesmann kill off a Gavin set trimmed the CU lead to 18-16. The Buffs countered with a pair of Lindow kills to stretch the lead to 20-16. The Ragin' Cajuns fought off the first two set points, but Emily Todd ended the match with a kill for the Buffs (25-21).

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Fight Back After Tough Opening Set, Fall to Buffs 3-0

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Team Stats

Blair Claypoole

Lavinia Tataran

Andrea Hole

Mandi Gavin

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