Volleyball: Cajuns Power Past Eagles

LAFAYETTE, La. – Just 24 hours after knocking off league-leader Appalachian State, the Ragin’ Cajuns used a big second-set rally to help sweep past Georgia Southern, 3-0 (29-27, 26-24, 25-16) on Saturday at Earl K. Long Gym.
 
Louisiana (12-3, 2-3 SBC) outlasted the Eagles (1-13, 1-4 SBC) in the first set, but found itself down 20-12 in the second set before a loud kill from Kae Kae Lockhart sparked a 13-3 run to end the set and propel itself into the final frame.
 
Sara Mossakowski led the Cajuns once again with 14 kills, hitting .300 for the match with eight digs and having a hand in three of UL’s 11 blocks. She was the only Ragin’ Cajun to reach double figures in kills, but was one of seven players to register a score. Kaylee Nemeth was next in line with seven kills and three blocks, and Kelly Wiesmann provided a huge spark off the bench with five kills on nine swings without an error.
 
Andrea Hole had six kills on eight tries, adding nine digs and 34 assists in leading UL to a .216 attack percentage for the night. Stacey Reilly had five kills and 10 digs, and Chanelle Gardner led all players with six blocks – three of the solo variety.
 
Caitlyn Auxilien led all players with 16 digs, helping the Cajuns own a 49-42 edge in digs on the night.
 
Meanwhile, the Eagles hit just .097 for the night, despite coming off their first win of the season on Friday night at ULM. They were led by Jamie DeRatt’s 12 kills and Kat Minnerly’s 31 assists.
 
Mossakowski had four of her scores in the first set, one that was close throughout. UL followed Maddie White‘s serve to a 7-0 run early in the set to turn an 8-5 deficit into a 12-8 advantage. Georgia Southern responded to take a 22-19 lead late in the set, but a score from Wiesmann was the first of four straight for the Cajuns who worked its way to a set point on an error from Georgia Southern’s Megan Chevalier. From there, the Eagles fought off a pair of set-point tries before reaching one of their own at 27-26; however, a service error knotted things up at 27 apiece and the Cajuns turned to Reilly and Nemeth on consecutive possessions for the sets final two scores.
 
Georgia Southern wasted no time in the second set establishing a big lead, going on an 11-3 run to go up 20-12 after a service ace from Catherine Murray. The Cajuns then turned to their bench, subbing in Lockhart who made an immediate impact with a resounding kill at the net that provided the spark UL needed. The Cajuns followed that score by scoring eight of the next 10 points, and eventually knotted it up at 23-23 on a rejection by Mossakowski and Gardner. The Eagles answered with a score on the next possession to get a set-point try, but Wiesmann answered with the second of her three kills in the set and two plays later delivered another to finish off the Cajuns biggest rally of the season.
 
The third set was all UL from the start, with the Cajuns hitting .407 in the frame and holding Georgia Southern to just .032 hitting. Mossakowski and Gardner handled the bulk of the scoring in the set as Mossakowski delivered half of her 14 kills in the third set, and Gardner tallied three solo blocks – two in the set’s first eight points.
 
Louisiana will next host Georgia State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. before hitting the road for a Saturday match at Texas State.
 
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