University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Friday, September 28
Earl K. Long Gym
7:00 PM
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
9-9, 1-2SBC
0
vs
3
Western Kentucky
17-3, 3-0SBC
1
2
3
F
Western Kentucky
25
25
25
3
Louisiana
16
19
13
0
WKU Takes Advantage of "Off" Night by Cajuns to Capture Sweep
9/28/2012 10:07:00 PM | Volleyball
| Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
Contact: Matt Hebert
LAFAYETTE – An uncharacteristic night in which the Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team's attack attempts didn't seem to fall in and the squad hit into several blocks resulted in a 3-0 (16-25, 19-25, 13-25) loss to No. 23 Western Kentucky Friday evening at Earl K. Long Gym.
The Ragin' Cajuns (9-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) entered the night with a .212 season hitting percentage. The squad's ineffectiveness in attacking resulted in a season-low tying .070 hitting percentage (32 kills, 24 errors, 114 attempts).
The Hilltoppers (17-3, 3-0 Sun Belt) were working in perfect rhythm all match long, using a .367 hitting percentage (44 kills, 8 errors, 98 attempts) to leave little margin of error for Louisiana.
The combination of both teams play resulted in WKU using lengthy scoring sprees to break open a close score each set.
The Toppers broke free from a 7-5 lead in the opener with six unanswered points. In the second set, a 6-5 WKU lead was stretched to six points on a 6-1 run. And in the final frame, WKU erased a 3-0 deficit with a 7-2 scoring spree and then put the set out of reach with a 7-1 run after a Lavinia Tataran kill made it 7-6.
The loss snapped the Cajuns' five-match winning streak at Earl K. Long Gym. Louisiana dropped a home match for only the eighth time in the past 30 outings.
The largest crowd of the season watched the Cajuns battled the nationally ranked Hilltoppers. The crowd of 893 included the entire Ragin' Cajuns football team which attended to cheer on their fellow student-athletes.
Louisiana concludes its Sun Belt Conference home-opening weekend on Saturday with a 3 p.m., match against Middle Tennessee (3-14, 0-2 Sun Belt).
Tataran fueled the offense for UL with a match-high tying nine kills on the strength of .310 hitting percentage. Blair Claypoole collected eight kills on 17 attempts, but five errors was well above the norm for her.
Tataran and Claypoole helped the Cajuns stay nearly even with the Hilltoppers in the kills department early on, with WKU holding a slim 28-24 advantage after two sets. WKU doubled up UL, 16-8, in the final set to pull away.
The Hilltoppers fluid attack was paced by five players who netted at least six kills. Paige Wessel and Haley Bodway led the way with nine kills apiece.
The Cajuns .070 hitting percentage was the squad's lowest since hitting exactly the same against Georgia Tech on Sept. 7 in the Active Ankle Challenge in Gainesville, Fla. Entering Friday's action, UL had posted a .200-plus hitting percentage in three straight and four of the last five matches.
Senior setter Mandi Gavin passed out 24 assists to lower her total needed to reach 3,000 career assists to 202.
After WKU's string of six straight points broke open the first set and the lead later grew to 24-12, the Cajuns kept fighting back.
After a Melanie Stutsman service error gave rally to UL, Kaylee Nemeth combined with Kelly Wiesmann for a block and then threw down a kill to get the deficit into single digits. Wiesmann came up with a kill on the next rally as the Cajuns closed to 24-16 before the Toppers netted set point.
The second set featured four ties and a Cajuns comeback after the 6-1 run by WKU opened a 12-6 lead. A pair of kills by Wiesmann followed by a Noelle Langenkamp attack and reception error cut the UL deficit to 12-10. Louisiana moved within a point on the very next rally when Jordyn Skinner registered an attack error.
A Langenkamp kill followed by a Wiesmman attack into a WKU block quickly gave WKU the momentum.
The Cajuns stayed within striking distance, never allowing the Toppers lead to exceed five points until the final margin (25-19). A Tataran kill cut the WKU lead to 22-18, but a pair of kills and a block solo from Skinner gave the visitors three points in the final four rallies to go up 2-0 in the match.
Louisiana stormed out of intermission with three straight kills for a 3-0 lead. Similar to the first two sets the Hilltoppers used a surge to take control, this time scoring on seven of the next nine rallies to claim the lead for good.
A 16-8 edge in kills, a 71 percent sideout success rate compared to 37 for UL and a .023 Cajuns hitting percentage led to the match clinching win for WKU.
Contact: Matt Hebert
LAFAYETTE – An uncharacteristic night in which the Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team's attack attempts didn't seem to fall in and the squad hit into several blocks resulted in a 3-0 (16-25, 19-25, 13-25) loss to No. 23 Western Kentucky Friday evening at Earl K. Long Gym.
The Ragin' Cajuns (9-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) entered the night with a .212 season hitting percentage. The squad's ineffectiveness in attacking resulted in a season-low tying .070 hitting percentage (32 kills, 24 errors, 114 attempts).
The Hilltoppers (17-3, 3-0 Sun Belt) were working in perfect rhythm all match long, using a .367 hitting percentage (44 kills, 8 errors, 98 attempts) to leave little margin of error for Louisiana.
The combination of both teams play resulted in WKU using lengthy scoring sprees to break open a close score each set.
The Toppers broke free from a 7-5 lead in the opener with six unanswered points. In the second set, a 6-5 WKU lead was stretched to six points on a 6-1 run. And in the final frame, WKU erased a 3-0 deficit with a 7-2 scoring spree and then put the set out of reach with a 7-1 run after a Lavinia Tataran kill made it 7-6.
The loss snapped the Cajuns' five-match winning streak at Earl K. Long Gym. Louisiana dropped a home match for only the eighth time in the past 30 outings.
The largest crowd of the season watched the Cajuns battled the nationally ranked Hilltoppers. The crowd of 893 included the entire Ragin' Cajuns football team which attended to cheer on their fellow student-athletes.
Louisiana concludes its Sun Belt Conference home-opening weekend on Saturday with a 3 p.m., match against Middle Tennessee (3-14, 0-2 Sun Belt).
Tataran fueled the offense for UL with a match-high tying nine kills on the strength of .310 hitting percentage. Blair Claypoole collected eight kills on 17 attempts, but five errors was well above the norm for her.
Tataran and Claypoole helped the Cajuns stay nearly even with the Hilltoppers in the kills department early on, with WKU holding a slim 28-24 advantage after two sets. WKU doubled up UL, 16-8, in the final set to pull away.
The Hilltoppers fluid attack was paced by five players who netted at least six kills. Paige Wessel and Haley Bodway led the way with nine kills apiece.
The Cajuns .070 hitting percentage was the squad's lowest since hitting exactly the same against Georgia Tech on Sept. 7 in the Active Ankle Challenge in Gainesville, Fla. Entering Friday's action, UL had posted a .200-plus hitting percentage in three straight and four of the last five matches.
Senior setter Mandi Gavin passed out 24 assists to lower her total needed to reach 3,000 career assists to 202.
After WKU's string of six straight points broke open the first set and the lead later grew to 24-12, the Cajuns kept fighting back.
After a Melanie Stutsman service error gave rally to UL, Kaylee Nemeth combined with Kelly Wiesmann for a block and then threw down a kill to get the deficit into single digits. Wiesmann came up with a kill on the next rally as the Cajuns closed to 24-16 before the Toppers netted set point.
The second set featured four ties and a Cajuns comeback after the 6-1 run by WKU opened a 12-6 lead. A pair of kills by Wiesmann followed by a Noelle Langenkamp attack and reception error cut the UL deficit to 12-10. Louisiana moved within a point on the very next rally when Jordyn Skinner registered an attack error.
A Langenkamp kill followed by a Wiesmman attack into a WKU block quickly gave WKU the momentum.
The Cajuns stayed within striking distance, never allowing the Toppers lead to exceed five points until the final margin (25-19). A Tataran kill cut the WKU lead to 22-18, but a pair of kills and a block solo from Skinner gave the visitors three points in the final four rallies to go up 2-0 in the match.
Louisiana stormed out of intermission with three straight kills for a 3-0 lead. Similar to the first two sets the Hilltoppers used a surge to take control, this time scoring on seven of the next nine rallies to claim the lead for good.
A 16-8 edge in kills, a 71 percent sideout success rate compared to 37 for UL and a .023 Cajuns hitting percentage led to the match clinching win for WKU.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
Team Stats
WKU
UL
Kills
44
32
Errors
8
24
Attempts
98
114
Hitting %
.367
.070
Points
54.0
36.0
Assists
43
27
Aces
1
1
Blocks
9.0
3.0
Game Leaders
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
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