Volleyball: Comeback Falls Short For Cajuns Against Texas State

Matt Sullivan, Asst Sports Information Director, November 21, 2013

 Louisiana concludes season with 19-14 record

TROY, Ala. – Ashlee Hilbun recorded five of her team-high 15 kills in a final 9-2 run in the fourth set as Texas State staved off a rally by the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to claim a 25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Sun Belt Volleyball Championship on Thursday at Trojan Arena.

Louisiana (19-14), which was making its third appearance in the postseason in the past four years, concluded its best season since finishing 19-15 overall in 1997. Third-seeded Texas State, which was making its debut in the Sun Belt Championship, improved to 22-12 overall and will face No. 7-seeded Arkansas State in the semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m.

The match marked the final appearance for Louisiana’s four-member senior class – Kristen Armstrong, Taylor Meade, Lavinia Tataran and Tonice White. The quartet won a combined 66 matches in their career with the Cajuns, the second-best total since joining the Sun Belt Conference and one behind the 1998 class.

After falling to the Bobcats in straight sets during the regular season and dropping the opening two frames of the day, sixth-seeded Louisiana fought back in the third set behind the play of Sara Mossakowski and Tataran.

Mossakowski recorded six of her 14 kills in the third set for the Cajuns while Tataran added three. The Cajuns trailed 7-5 after a kill by Hilbun before scoring four consecutive points that included a pair of kills by Mossakowski, a combined block by Andrea Hole and Abby Filce, and a service ace by Armstrong.

A kill by Tataran, who finished with a team-high 15 kills, gave the Cajuns the lead for good at 16-15 before pulling away from a 20-18 advantage with four straight points off the serve of Armstrong.

Both teams battled through 16 ties and nine lead changes in the fourth set with three straight kills by Tataran giving the Cajuns an 18-16 lead. But Texas State regained the lead for good, scoring the next five points that included kills by Hilburn and Amari Deardorff along with a service ace by Ali Hubicsak.

Louisiana closed to within 21-19 on a kill by White, but scored the next three times with Shelby Vas Matt recording a kill and an ace with a kill by Hilbun giving the Bobcats a 24-19 lead.

Vas Matt and Alexandra Simms had 13 and 11 kills respectively for Texas State, which hit .271 for the match and recorded 10 team blocks. Hilbun led the Bobcats with six blocks with Molly Aherns adding four. Caylin Mahoney posted a double-double for the Bobcats with 44 assists and 13 digs while Sierra Smith led all players with 22 digs.

Louisiana finished with a .199 percentage at the net with Kaylee Nemeth adding eight kills for the Cajuns and White seven. Hole posted her 18th double-double of the season for Louisiana with 40 assists, 16 digs with four kills.

Caitlyn Auxilien and Meade added 16 digs each for the Cajuns with Mossakowski posted 11 to record a double-double. Armstrong tied a career-high with three service aces as the Cajuns posted five in the match. Filce added three kills and led Louisiana with three blocks.