Volleyball: Cajuns prevail in five sets at Little Rock

The Advertiser, Oct. 1, 2016

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Consecutive kills by Chloe Cordell capped off a 6-1 set-ending run by the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team that landed the squad a five-set victory over the Little Rock Trojans on Friday evening at the Jack Stephens Center.

Trailing 14-11 in the decisive fifth set, the Ragin’ Cajuns (5-12, 2-1 Sun Belt) forced a tie with a Chanelle Gardner kill, Stacey Reilly ace and a Trojans attack error. Little Rock (5-11, 1-2 Sun Belt) took the lead momentarily after Cordell hit into a block by Edina Selimovic and Taylor Lindberg.

An attack error by the Trojans’ Veronica Marin created another tie. This time, Cordell redeemed herself. On the next two rallies she threw down a kill to secure the 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 15-25, 25-18, 17-15) win for UL, the squad’s first five-set triumph of the season.

The Ragin’ Cajuns, who won at UAB in their last true road outing on Sept. 15, extended their win streak on the opposition’s home floor to two matches. UL completes its Arkansas weekend trip on Saturday in Jonesboro with a 6 p.m. match against Arkansas State (11-6, 3-0 Sun Belt).

Gardner, who missed the previous four matches with an injury incurred at UAB, returned to the lineup and provided instant offense. The St. Martinville High product posted a career-high 21 kills on 41 attempts and hit .439.

Gardner increased her career kills total to 889, moving her within five of tying Tonice White for fourth place on the rally scoring era charts and within striking distance of her 900th career kill.

Stacey Reilly added 19 kills, for her 15th double-digit total of the season, and Nia Antoine produced 14 on just 24 swings with a .542 hitting percentage. UL ended the night with a season-high 69 kills, reaching 60-plus for the second consecutive five-set match (67 vs. Georgia Southern).

Sydney Davis scooped 32 digs for the second straight match, tying her career-high set last Saturday vs. Georgia Southern, to pace the Ragin’ Cajuns defensive effort which stockpiled a season-high 93 digs.

Jessica Bartczyszyn handed out 59 of the Ragin’ Cajuns 65 assists, establishing a career-high total for the second straight outing (posted 57 last Saturday vs. Georgia Southern).

After dropping the first set, the Ragin’ Cajuns avoided a 0-2 deficit in the match by fending off a late Little Rock rally. The Trojans, who earlier trailed 19-14, pulled ahead 25-24. Gardner gave her team a chance with a kill forged a 25-all tie, then an ace from Reilly and kill by Hanna Rovira gave the UL the set and evened the match at 1-1.

Little Rock jumped out to a 9-3 lead and took advantage of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ lowest hitting percentage of the match (.128) to claim the third set 25-15.

UL rebounded and posted 15 kills on a .412 percentage to claim the fourth set. The Ragin’ Cajuns broke a 14-all tie with a 7-0 run which created enough cushion to fend off the hosts who hit .389 in the set.