NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana-Lafayette snapped an eight-match losing streak
to the University of New Orleans by taking a 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 25-17,
18-25, 15-12) decision at the Human Performance Center on Tuesday night.
Bethany Fogler led ULL (8-17, 2-8 Sun Belt) with 17 kills while Mandi Gavin and Amie Goodwin followed with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Kendra Hall had a match-high 47 assists with Lindsay Brown totaling 25 digs.
Lindsey Loyd and Maria Szivos continued a trend for UNO (14-7, 7-2 SBC) by posting double-double performances.
Loyd tallied 17 kills and 13 digs while Szivos followed suit with 16 kills and 13 digs of her own. Hajnalka Molnar distributed 36 assists for the Privateers as Nicky Valenti led both teams in digs with 27.
Loyd connected for kills on her first six attacks of the match, but it was not enough as ULL led for most of the opening frame with a set-high lead of three points at 18-15.
The Privateers closed the gap within two at 21-19 before the Ragin Cajuns' finished the set by scoring 4 of 5 points to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, UNO scored the first three points and 6 of 7 to take a commanding lead. ULL reeled the Privateers back in and went ahead by scoring eight of the next 10 points to grab a 9-8 advantage.
The Ragin' Cajuns lead would be short-lived as after a gaining a two-point edge at 13-11, UNO ran off four straight points to take a 15-13 edge. ULL would get back into the driver's seat at 20-19 prompting Privateer head coach Jozsef Forman to call a timeout.
Once more, the visiting team went on a run scoring 4 of 6 to take a 24-21 edge. This time, UNO responded by scoring five straight points highlighted by a block by the duo of Heather Ford and Edina Dobi to reach set point.
The third set was nearly a repeat of the previous set as the Privateers started by scoring 6 of 8 points before the Ragin' Cajuns responded with four straight points and 8 of 9 to take a 10-7 lead.
ULL built their edge with a run late in the frame and cruised to a 25-17 victory to get within one set of snapping an eight-match losing streak to UNO.
The tables were turned in the fourth set as the Ragin' Cajuns opened the fourth set with a 4-1 run with the Privateers returning the favor with a 6-2 run on way to a 7-6 lead. UNO would extend their lead to five at 14-9 on consecutive kills by Ford.
Ford added three more kills in the set along with aiding on three blocks as the Privateers maintained control of the fourth set to force a fifth frame.
With six kills in their first nine attacks, ULL jumped out to a 7-5 advantage in the match's final set. The Ragin' Cajun lead grew to four at 10-6 and despite a late Privateer effort, the home team could never jump in front.
UNO will start a stretch of three matches at the HPC against 2008 NCAA participants on Saturday at 5 p.m. against reigning SBC tournament champion Western Kentucky.
