Louisiana-Lafayette/Louisiana-Monroe Match Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – With the non-conference season behind them, the University of South Alabama volleyball team will step in to Sun Belt Conference with a pair of matches at Jaguar Gym.  USA will begin the weekend on Friday evening when it takes on Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. The Jags will then welcome Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday with first serve set for 5 p.m.

“Louisiana-Lafayette is an interesting team because they run a little bit of an unconventional offense, so we will have to make sure that we know who’s in the front row, who are their hitters and track them quickly,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “The same goes for Louisiana-Monroe.  They have a couple of new players that we will key on early.  If we can contain them, I think we will be fine.  I think for both teams, we have to do what has worked best for us, which is serving aggressively and having great defense.” 

Live stats for both matches can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com.

The Jaguars open up Sun Belt action this weekend after finishing the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 5-7 record.  This past weekend, USA opened up play at the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Tournament with a 3-0 victory, but dropped each of its last two matches of the tourney, falling in straight sets to Belmont and in five sets to Tulane.

Freshman outside hitter Maureen Ros recorded one of her best showings at the Green Wave tourney.  In the three matches, Ros finished a team-high 30 kills, 24 digs, six block assists and three aces.  Against Lamar, she had her most efficient outing when she ended the match with a season-best .647 attack percentage.  The Doetinchem, Netherlands, native had 11 kills on 17 attacks and did not commit an error.  The hitting percentage also ranked fifth-highest in a match by a Jag in the program’s history.  Twice this season, Ros has hit .625 or better in a match.  For her play, she was selected to the all-tournament team.

Senior outside hitter Samia Salomao continues to have a solid final season.  The San Jose Dos Campos, Brazil, native leads the team with 2.83 kills per set and her 2.80 digs per set rank second on the club.  She has a team-best five double-doubles on the season.  Middle blockers Olivia Mohler and Melissa Waelter are close behind her with 2.51 and 2.46 kills per set, respectively.

One of the Jaguars’ strengths this season has been in the serving department.  As a team, South Alabama ranks third in the SBC and 40th nationally in service aces.  Two players - Waelter (0.41 - third) and Salomao (0.34 - T-seventh) - rank among the league leaders.

Sophomore libero Jenna Hassell ranks seventh in the league with 3.77 dps.  South Alabama ranks third in the Sun Belt in that same category.

Louisiana-Lafayette enters conference play this weekend with a 7-8 record on the year.  The Ragin’ Cajuns competed this past weekend at the UT-Arlington Hilton Invitational dropping their first two matches to UTA and Texas Tech, but closing out the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Prairie View A&M.

ULL opened up the season with a 5-2 record, but over the last eight matches, the Cajuns have posted just a 2-6 mark.  USA and ULL have one common opponent, as both have defeated Lamar.

Louisiana-Lafayette has a trio of players averaging over two kills a set and hitting .200 or better.  Leading the way offensively is senior middle blocker Lesley Mirarchi, who enters with a team-best 2.54 kills per set and a .251 attack percentage.  She is closely followed by Tonice White (2.27 kps) and Blair Claypoole (2.17). 

Like the Jags, the Ragin’ Cajuns have been one of the top serving teams in the Sun Belt this season, ranking third in the league with 1.62 aces per set.  Individually in that same category, Taylor Meade’s 0.47 aces per set is second-best in the SBC.

Meade also leads the club in digs with 3.12.

After finishing with just 10 wins over the last five seasons, Louisiana-Monroe is off to one of its strongest starts in years holding a 6-4 record.  ULM enters the start of league play looking to snap an 81-match conference skid - including a stretch in which it has lost in straight sets in 24 of its last 26 SBC matches.  The Warhawks’ last Sun Belt victory came back on Oct. 9, 2006 against Louisiana-Lafayette.  During its four years in the Sun Belt, ULM has recorded just a 2-86 mark and will open conference play at Troy on Friday before heading to Mobile.

Over the weekend, the Warhawks recorded a 2-1 mark at the Nicholls Bayou Invitational in Thibodaux, La.  Louisiana-Monroe fell on the opening day to the host Colonels, but bounced back and picked up wins over Grambling State and Alabama A&M.  USA and ULM have faced three common opponents during the non-conference portion of each’s schedules - AAMU, Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana.  The Jags went 2-1 against those three teams, while the Warhawks were 1-2.

The duo of sophomore Bianca Ocana (3.04) and junior Zuzana Markova (3.02)rank as two of the top threats in the league, ranking eighth and ninth, respectively, in kills.  Junior right side hitter Samantha Morse is also averaging 2.40 kps.

ULM has three players among the top 10 in the Sun Belt in serving - Ocana (fourth), Markova (T-fifth) and Tetiana Sukach (eighth).

The Warhawks also rank as one of the toughest defensive teams in the conference, limiting their opponents to a .153 attack percentage, which ranks second-best in the Sun Belt.

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).

NOTES: Sun Belt Conference openers have not been kind to the Jags throughout the past several years.  Prior to last seasons, 3-0 conference-opening victory at ULM, USA had lost all eight of its league openers under head coach Nicole Keshock.   All-time, USA is 4-16 in Sun Belt openers and 3-17 in league home-openers.  Last season, the Jags defeated UALR 3-2 in its home opener, snapping a 14-match skid.  The meeting between Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama this weekend will mark the 42nd in the all-time series between the two clubs.  ULL holds a solid 32-9 advantage in those previous meetings, taking eight of the last 11 dating back to the 2003 season.  USA is 6-11 in the series in matches played in Mobile.  The meeting this weekend will mark the 11th between Louisiana-Monroe and South Alabama.  USA and ULM have split the previous 10 meetings in the series, but the Lady Jags have won four straight with all coming in straight sets.  USA is 2-0 in the series in matches played in Mobile.

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