Ragin' Cajuns Dealt Pair of Setbacks on Opening Day

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team fell in straight sets to Houston and host-Texas Tech on Friday in the Texas Tech Invitational at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

Houston used a 45-27 advantage in kills and .307 attack percentage to overtake the Ragin' Cajuns 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-22) in both squad's 2015 season opener.

In the nightcap, Texas Tech slipped by Louisiana 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-20), in a match that featured 19 ties, by piecing together critical runs in each set.

The Ragin' Cajuns played both matches without the services of returning starters Sara Mossakowski and Stacey Reilly who are recovering from injury and are not participating in the weekend event.

Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's squad concludes its stay in Lubbock on Saturday with a 1:30 p.m., match against Utah State (0-2).

Louisiana vs. Houston
In the opener, Houston benefited from a six-kill advantage in each set (14-8 in set 1, 15-9 in set 2, 16-10 in set 3). It proved valuable in the final two sets as the teams battled through 10 tied scores

Louisiana missed a chance at tying the match in the second set after a 15-13 lead slipped away. After a kill by UH's Sarah Afflerbaugh, three straight Cajuns errors gave the Cougars a 17-15 lead. Tied at 19-all later in the set, UH used a pair of kills by Brookah Palmer and a block solo from Hunter Wise to open a 22-19 lead.

After a Keely Hayes kill pulled the Cajuns into an 11-all tie in the third set, the Cougars scored four of the next five points fueled by three more kills from Palmer for a 15-12 edge and never relinquished the lead.

"We played like a young team, inconsistent at times and great at times," Mazeitis-Fontenot said. "We let Houston get big runs of points and couldn't generate the offense to compensate."

Hayes led Louisiana with six kills while Chanelle Gardner and McKenzie John posted five apiece. Sydney Davis got the start at libero and collected five digs. Freshman Julia Pasch finished tied with Chloe Cordell for the team lead with three blocks.

Louisiana vs. Texas Tech
The Ragin' Cajuns and Red Raiders had even numbers offensively with TTU holding a slight 36-32 edge in kills. Attack errors wound up keeping Louisiana out of the win column as the squad hit into 29 resulting in a .025 hitting percentage.

"It was a better played match, but we couldn't hit a ball in the court to the outside," Mazeitis-Fontenot explained. "It was very frustrating because we would get right back in it and then take ourselves out."

Texas Tech used a 6-0 run after 9-9 tie in the first set, a 7-1 run after 12-12 tie in the second set and a 6-1 run after 19-19 tie in the final set to create distance.

John, a Lafayette High product and Dominican (N.Y.) College transfer, led the Cajuns with nine kills. Katey Kyle (.286) and Gardner (.250) each posted seven kills and recorded an attack percentage above .200

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Team Stats

Keely Hayes

Chanelle Gardner

McKenzie John

Chloe Cordell

Players Mentioned

Chloe Cordell

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Keely Hayes

McKenzie John

Katey Kyle

Sara Mossakowski

Julia Pasch

Stacey Reilly