Box Score - Louisiana-Lafayette 3, South Alabama 1

LAFAYETTE, La. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team picked up the opening set in extra points versus Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday afternoon, but dropped the next three to fall 3-1 (29-27, 19-25, 14-25, 22-25) to the Ragin’ Cajuns at Earl K. Long Gym.  

“I felt like both teams came out and played really well in the first set,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “We had a good strategy going into the match and executed it well early, but just seemed to go away from it as the match progressed.  Also, Louisiana-Lafayette gave us some easy balls, but we just couldn’t take care of them like we normally can.  To (ULL’s) credit, they took advantage of those opportunities.”

The Jags (6-11, 1-1 SBC) will now return home to host UALR and Arkansas State next weekend.  South Alabama will open the home stand on Friday night against the Trojans at 7 p.m. and then take on the Red Wolves on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Torlandria Jones posted a career-high 15 kills and recorded a .464 hitting percentage in the loss for the Jags.  Senior outside hitter Juliana Almeida returned to the starting lineup and added 11 kills and 12 digs to give her her fifth double-double of the season.

ULL improves to 10-6 overall and 2-0 in league play with the win.  The Ragin’ Cajuns were led offensively by Lesley Mirarchi’s 18 kills.  Caroline Dufrene and Kerrilyn Lazare also ended the match in double figures with 15 kills apiece.  Lindsay Brown had a match-high 26 digs for ULL.

The loss versus Louisiana-Lafayette was also the 11th-straight in the series in Lafayette for the Jags.

SET ONE: South Alabama 29, Louisiana-Lafayette 27

ULL held the early momentum in the first set, building its lead to as much as three.  Coming out of a time out though with the Ragin’ Cajuns holding a 12-10 lead, USA rattled off four-straight points and took its first lead of the match (14-12) after a ULL serving error and three Cajun attack errors.  

Samia Salomao gave the Jags their largest lead of the set (16-13) when the junior dropped in an ace – her second of the set, but Louisiana-Lafayette came right back and quickly tied things back up three points later after a kill from Lazare.

The two clubs kept things close for the remainder of the set and after going to extra points, but tied at 27-27, South Alabama was able to push across the final two points and take the early lead in the match with the two-point victory.  Jones broke the tie when the freshman middle blocker blasted her seventh kill of the set and fellow middle blocker Jillian Jordan clinched the win with a kill of her own.  Jones led the offense in the first set as she had seven kills on eight attempts and committed no attack errors.

Mirarchi also had seven kills in the opening frame for ULL.

SET TWO: Louisiana-Lafayette 25, South Alabama 19

With Louisiana-Lafayette holding a one-point advantage, the Cajuns took control of the second set and reeled off six unanswered points to extend their lead out to 13-6.  Lazare keyed the ULL run with three kills and a block assists.

South Alabama made a late charge and narrowed the deficit to 23-19 after another kill by Jones and a ULL miscue, but the Cajuns were able to pick up the final two points of the set and even the match at one set apiece.  Mirarchi and Dufrene gave Louisiana-Lafayette the 25-19 second-set victory when the duo recorded back-to-back kills.  

SET THREE: Louisiana-Lafayette 25, South Alabama 14

Coming out of the intermission, ULL kept the momentum and opened up the third set on a 10-2 run.  The Cajun run was keyed by three kills from Mirarchi and two from Dufrene.  The duo also teamed up to turn back a Jaguar attack at the net.

ULL built its lead to as much as 13 and hit .a blistering .424 for the set, before eventually picking up the 25-14 win.

SET FOUR: Louisiana-Lafayette 25, South Alabama 22

Louisiana-Lafayette held an early two-point lead in the fourth set at 7-5, but Jaclyn Nickels ignited a run of five-straight points for USA with her fourth kill off the set.  During the spurt, Jenna Hassell dropped in a pair of aces and Jones capped off the scoring run for the Jags with another kill to give USA the 10-7 lead.

Later with USA still holding a three-point advantage, ULL quickly tied the contest back up at 12-12, and then regained the lead at 16-15 after another Dufrene kill and two Jaguar attack errors.  The Cajuns built their lead to three four points later and from there held on to take the set and the match with the 25-22 fourth-set victory.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).