Volleyball: Ragin’ Cajuns Finish Strong at Fight Like Hal Memorial

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball fought off set point in the second and third set to rally and defeat UT Martin in four sets on Friday, gaining a split of action at the Fight Like Hal Memorial at UAB’s Bartow Arena.

 

Trailing 24-23 in the second set against UTM and trailing 1-0 in the match, an attack error by the Skyhawks evened the score. Louisiana (3-11) would break a 25-all tie with a kill and service ace from Nia Antoine.

 

In the pivotal third set, the Ragin’ Cajuns escaped set point three times. At 27-26, Stacey Reilly threw down a kill to extend the set, then Antoine dealt another service ace to put Louisiana ahead 28-27. An attack error by UTM (4-10) gave the set, and a 2-1 match lead, to the Ragin’ Cajuns.

 

Louisiana’s final push followed a 16-all tie in the fourth set. The Ragin’ Cajuns reeled off a 9-1 scoring spree, the first five points coming off the serve of Katherine Young, to claim the frame 25-17 and secure the 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 29-27, 25-17) match victory.

 

Reilly led the way against the Skyhawks with 16 kills. But it was Antoine who delivered the clutch performance by turning in 12 kills, four aces and five blocks.

 

The win was head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot’s 112th at the helm of the Ragin’ Cajuns moving her past Sherry LeBas into sole possession of second place on the program’s all-time victories list.

 

The UTM match was the final pre-conference tournament outing of the season for Louisiana. The squad opens Sun Belt Conference play next weekend hosting Georgia State on Friday, Sept. 23 and Georgia Southern on Saturday, Sept. 24, both matches beginning at 6:30 p.m.

 

Defeating UT Martin allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to rebound from a 3-0 (18-25, 14-25, 20-25) setback to Memphis in the day’s first outing.

 

Memphis outhit Louisiana .280-.130 and never trailed in the match. Reilly topped the Ragin’ Cajuns with 10 kills and 15 digs.

 

The Ragin’ Cajuns went into the match with the Tigers (6-4) shorthanded as Chanelle Gardner sat out with a medically-related matter incurred during Thursday’s win over UAB.

 

For more information on Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball, as well as all of Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/ULVolleyball) and Twitter (@UL_Volleyball).