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Volleyball: UL Tops ASU on Senior Night
Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team closed out the home portion of its schedule with a crucial 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19) victory over Arkansas State Saturday evening, securing the 10th win of the season inside the friendly confines of Earl K. Long Gym. The Ragin’ Cajuns (15-12, 5-6 Sun Belt) ended Senior Night on a high note, notching a season-high 14 total blocks in the win. Arkansas State (13-10, 7-4 Sun Belt) edged UL in the kills column, 51-to-46. Saturday’s victory snapped Arkansas State’s six-match win streak and was the first UL win over ASU since 2002. The win also marked the most victories for a UL squad since 2002. The last time the Ragin’ Cajuns program had reached the 10-win plateau at home was in 1988. Junior Lesley Mirarchi managed 12 kills in the last two sets, leading the Cajuns with a team-high 17 kills. Mirarchi hit .469 and notched five total blocks in the contest. She also reached the 300-kill club for the first time in her career. Senior Lindsay Brown reached 500 digs for the second consecutive season on Saturday, becoming the first and only UL volleyball player to accomplish such a feat since Nia Kiggundu (1995-1996) with her team-high 17 digs. Taylor Meade, a freshman from Coppell Texas, inked nine kills in the match, posting 14 digs and two service aces. Another senior, Caroline Dufrene, made a strong finish at E.K. Long with six kills, five digs and two block assists. Brooke Niland, a senior from New Roads, finished the match with eight digs and an assist. Setter Mandi Gavin anchored the UL offense with 37 assists. She was a stalwart defensively picking 11 digs with seven total blocks. Kerrilyn Lazare had five kills and a block, while freshman Tonice White threw down three kills and recorded four blocks. Arkansas State led by as many as six points in set one before Louisiana rallied to tie the match at 17-17. Louisiana used another balanced attack as seven Cajuns recorded kills in UL’s 25-21 set one victory. Mirarchi led the Cajuns with two kills in the set. Brown also notched four digs in the set, becoming only the second player in school history to record 500 digs in consecutive seasons. The Red Wolves again held an early lead posting a 10-8 advantage. Arkansas State came back from a three-point deficit to tie the match at 20-20. Louisiana reeled off five consecutive points, including four points from the serve of freshman Lavinia Tataran to win the second set point 25-20. Mirarchi had a team-high three kills in the set. Louisiana went on a 6-to-1 run to pull within one of Arkansas State, but the Red Wolves closed out their first point with a kill, winning 25-23. Meade threw down a team-best six kills. In set four, Louisiana again trailed early, but fought resiliently. The Cajuns went on an 8-2 run to close out the match, 25-19. Mirarchi inked a team-high seven kills, while Meade had five digs. The Ragin’ Cajuns will play the remainder of their regular season matches on the road. UL will visit rival La.-Monroe on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve at the ULM Activity Center. — Ragin’ Cajuns –
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