University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, September 22
Denton, Texas
1:00 PM
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
9-8, 1-1SBC West
2
at
3
North Texas
15-5, 1-0SBC West
1
2
3
4
5
F
Louisiana
25
25
29
22
11
2
North Texas
22
27
27
25
15
3
Mean Green Dials Up Defense to Take Five-Set Thriller from UL
9/22/2012 6:33:00 PM | Volleyball
| Box Score (PDF)
Contact: Matt Hebert
DENTON, Texas – If Saturday's match at the Mean Green Volleyball center was a preview of the two teams that will battle for the Sun Belt West division title, then the rematch at Earl K. Long Gym on Oct. 28 is a must-see affair.
Louisiana and North Texas went back-and-forth in a five-set battle that the host-Mean Green claimed 3-2 (22-25, 27-25, 27-29, 25-22, 15-11) by using its stingy defense to limit the Ragin' Cajuns (9-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) below .100 hitting in the final two sets.
Like the UIC match last weekend in Memphis, UL can look back on a set that got away and kept the squad from a sweep. The Cajuns stormed back from a 22-17 deficit in the second set with a 7-0 run, but allowed the Mean Green (15-5, 1-0 Sun Belt) to pull into a 24-all tie and surrendered points on three of the next four rallies to let NT off the hook with a 27-25 triumph.
Louisiana powered its way – producing 21 kills – through the third set and after being extended past 25 points, won 29-27 and could have left with a sweep if not for NT's second-set rally.
The Cajuns were having their way with the Sun Belt's top defense – NT entered with a league-best .126 opponent hitting percentage – posting hitting percentages of .390, .286 and .421 in collecting a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Mean Green's offense was just as hot, hitting above .300 each of the final four sets, and the defense lived up to its billing in the final two sets forcing UL to hit into 15 attack errors. The result was a victory which helped the hosts to gain a measure of revenge with the Cajuns who had swept last season's series.
The final stats were indicative of how evenly matched the two programs are. The Cajuns held a slim edge in kills (76-72), assists (71-68) and points (92-91). The Mean Green held a slim edge in digs (66-64.
There were 48 ties and 24 lead changes over the five-set battle. In the end, the Mean Green's frontline defense which produced 15 blocks stole the show.
“Wow, what a battle here today,” head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot remarked. “Down the stretch we fought hard, but a couple of our kids got down on themselves and started to struggle.
“I am still very confident in the group,” Mazeitis-Fontenot added. “It was definitely a barn burner, which is exactly what I thought it was going to be.”
Louisiana and North Texas played a five-set thriller for the third time in the past four meetings. It was the second straight five-set match at the Mean Green Volleyball Center – UL won 3-2 (26-28, 25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 15-11) Oct. 16, 2011.
Andrea Hole tied her season-and career-high with 18 kills to pace the Cajuns who ended with a team season-high 76 kills. Kelly Wiesmann added a career-best 16 kills and Blair Claypoole (14 kills) and Lavinia Tataran (12 kills) joined them in double figures.
Mandi Gavin, UL's preseason All-Sun Belt selection, dished out a season-high 62 assists in addition to three aces, nine digs and a pair of blocks. Gavin increased her season assists total to 590, lowering her total needed to become only the fourth player in school history with 3,000 career assists to 226.
Hole needed just 33 swings to reach her team-leading kills total, and with only three attack errors ended with a .455 hitting percentage. The Norwegian product finished the La.-Monroe-North Texas trip with 26 kills over 46 attempts while committing just three errors (.500 hitting percentage).
Sophomore libero Caitlyn Auxilien led the charge in the back row with a match-high tying 22 digs. Auxilen recorded her 14th double figure dig match of the 2012 season.
Freshman Carnae Dillard notched a match-high 21 kills for a North Texas. Courtney Windham, who leads the SBC in blocks per set, notched a career-high eight blocks.
Louisiana rode a 20-kill and 72 percent sideout surge in the opening set to grab an early lead. The Ragin' Cajuns regained the lead for good, 18-17, with a Gavin kill. Clinging to a 23-22 edge, a Claypoole kill led to set point and a block thrown up by Tonice White and Tataran landed the winner.
The second set saw three different rallies with NT erasing an early 6-2 deficit, UL erasing a 22-17 deficit and the Mean Green scoring on four of the final five rallies after facing set point down 24-23.
A kill from Gavin opened the Cajuns 6-0 spurt that opened a 23-22 lead. Auxilien served up five straight points to cap off the rally. The Mean Green stopped the Cajuns rally following an Auxilien ball-handling error. The Cajuns jumped back in front, 24-23, with a Claypoole kill. Dillard then threw down three of her 10 kills in the second set alone, to help the Mean Green steal the set that left the door open for the win in five sets.
UL turned to its offense once again in the third set, pounding out 21 kills and hitting .421 to fend off the Mean Green in an extended session. There were 19 ties and 12 lead changes.
The Cajuns fought off set point twice climbing out of a 25-24 hole with a Wiesmann kill then trailing 27-26 drew even thanks to a Windham service error.
Windham's error was followed up by consecutive Cajuns kills – one apiece by Hole and Claypoole – which gave the visitors a 2-1 edge in the match.
The Mean Green's defense stepped up over the final two sets, limiting the Cajuns to a .065 and .087 hitting percentage to turn the tide and keep UL from posting a Sun Belt-opening road sweep. Of their 15 cumulative blocks, the Mean Green notched nine over the final two frames.
Contact: Matt Hebert
DENTON, Texas – If Saturday's match at the Mean Green Volleyball center was a preview of the two teams that will battle for the Sun Belt West division title, then the rematch at Earl K. Long Gym on Oct. 28 is a must-see affair.
Louisiana and North Texas went back-and-forth in a five-set battle that the host-Mean Green claimed 3-2 (22-25, 27-25, 27-29, 25-22, 15-11) by using its stingy defense to limit the Ragin' Cajuns (9-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) below .100 hitting in the final two sets.
Like the UIC match last weekend in Memphis, UL can look back on a set that got away and kept the squad from a sweep. The Cajuns stormed back from a 22-17 deficit in the second set with a 7-0 run, but allowed the Mean Green (15-5, 1-0 Sun Belt) to pull into a 24-all tie and surrendered points on three of the next four rallies to let NT off the hook with a 27-25 triumph.
Louisiana powered its way – producing 21 kills – through the third set and after being extended past 25 points, won 29-27 and could have left with a sweep if not for NT's second-set rally.
The Cajuns were having their way with the Sun Belt's top defense – NT entered with a league-best .126 opponent hitting percentage – posting hitting percentages of .390, .286 and .421 in collecting a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Mean Green's offense was just as hot, hitting above .300 each of the final four sets, and the defense lived up to its billing in the final two sets forcing UL to hit into 15 attack errors. The result was a victory which helped the hosts to gain a measure of revenge with the Cajuns who had swept last season's series.
The final stats were indicative of how evenly matched the two programs are. The Cajuns held a slim edge in kills (76-72), assists (71-68) and points (92-91). The Mean Green held a slim edge in digs (66-64.
There were 48 ties and 24 lead changes over the five-set battle. In the end, the Mean Green's frontline defense which produced 15 blocks stole the show.
“Wow, what a battle here today,” head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot remarked. “Down the stretch we fought hard, but a couple of our kids got down on themselves and started to struggle.
“I am still very confident in the group,” Mazeitis-Fontenot added. “It was definitely a barn burner, which is exactly what I thought it was going to be.”
Louisiana and North Texas played a five-set thriller for the third time in the past four meetings. It was the second straight five-set match at the Mean Green Volleyball Center – UL won 3-2 (26-28, 25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 15-11) Oct. 16, 2011.
Andrea Hole tied her season-and career-high with 18 kills to pace the Cajuns who ended with a team season-high 76 kills. Kelly Wiesmann added a career-best 16 kills and Blair Claypoole (14 kills) and Lavinia Tataran (12 kills) joined them in double figures.
Mandi Gavin, UL's preseason All-Sun Belt selection, dished out a season-high 62 assists in addition to three aces, nine digs and a pair of blocks. Gavin increased her season assists total to 590, lowering her total needed to become only the fourth player in school history with 3,000 career assists to 226.
Hole needed just 33 swings to reach her team-leading kills total, and with only three attack errors ended with a .455 hitting percentage. The Norwegian product finished the La.-Monroe-North Texas trip with 26 kills over 46 attempts while committing just three errors (.500 hitting percentage).
Sophomore libero Caitlyn Auxilien led the charge in the back row with a match-high tying 22 digs. Auxilen recorded her 14th double figure dig match of the 2012 season.
Freshman Carnae Dillard notched a match-high 21 kills for a North Texas. Courtney Windham, who leads the SBC in blocks per set, notched a career-high eight blocks.
Louisiana rode a 20-kill and 72 percent sideout surge in the opening set to grab an early lead. The Ragin' Cajuns regained the lead for good, 18-17, with a Gavin kill. Clinging to a 23-22 edge, a Claypoole kill led to set point and a block thrown up by Tonice White and Tataran landed the winner.
The second set saw three different rallies with NT erasing an early 6-2 deficit, UL erasing a 22-17 deficit and the Mean Green scoring on four of the final five rallies after facing set point down 24-23.
A kill from Gavin opened the Cajuns 6-0 spurt that opened a 23-22 lead. Auxilien served up five straight points to cap off the rally. The Mean Green stopped the Cajuns rally following an Auxilien ball-handling error. The Cajuns jumped back in front, 24-23, with a Claypoole kill. Dillard then threw down three of her 10 kills in the second set alone, to help the Mean Green steal the set that left the door open for the win in five sets.
UL turned to its offense once again in the third set, pounding out 21 kills and hitting .421 to fend off the Mean Green in an extended session. There were 19 ties and 12 lead changes.
The Cajuns fought off set point twice climbing out of a 25-24 hole with a Wiesmann kill then trailing 27-26 drew even thanks to a Windham service error.
Windham's error was followed up by consecutive Cajuns kills – one apiece by Hole and Claypoole – which gave the visitors a 2-1 edge in the match.
The Mean Green's defense stepped up over the final two sets, limiting the Cajuns to a .065 and .087 hitting percentage to turn the tide and keep UL from posting a Sun Belt-opening road sweep. Of their 15 cumulative blocks, the Mean Green notched nine over the final two frames.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
Team Stats
UL
NT
Kills
76
72
Errors
29
18
Attempts
183
168
Hitting %
.257
.321
Points
92.0
91.0
Assists
71
68
Aces
7
4
Blocks
9.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
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