Box Score DENVER (Sept. 23) Louisiana-Lafayette setter Beth Henson dished out a school-record 68 assists to lead the Ragin' Cajuns to a 3-1 upset win over Denver in Sun Belt Conference volleyball action Sunday afternoon in Denver. The win is the first by an SBC opponent in Denver's 10 home matches as a member of the conference.
Clarice Laires and Amy Kraljev each had a match-high 18 kills for the Cajuns (6-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) and led four UL players in double-figure kills. Kraljev (25 digs), Laires (14 digs) and Priscilla Lima (16 kills/15 digs) all had double-doubles for the Cajuns.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Kaye (Aurora, Colo. / Smoky Hill) had a double-double with a team-high 17 kills and 12 digs for the Pioneers (7-7, 1-1). Junior OH Kellie Savage (Arvada, Colo. / Arvada West) also had a double-double with her 15 kills and 15 digs. Freshman OH Jenn Karas (Granby, Colo. / Middle Park) added a career-high 13 digs.
"We played pretty well the first game, and they were right there with us," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "In genereal, Louisiana-Lafayette doesn't make many errors and we couldn't line up and play defense when we needed to. Coming in I thought we should have won, but they took balls and made us play. We can't count on Kellie and Sarah the entire time. We need our middles to get more swings."
The Pioneers hit the road for the first time in nearly a month this coming weekend when they face South Alabama on Friday, Sept. 29 and New Orleans on Saturday, Sept. 30. Both matches start at 6 p.m. MDT.
DENVER VOLLEYBALLat Denver, Colo. (Hamilton Gymnasium)Lousiana-Lafayette 3, DENVER 1 1 2 3 4Louisiana-Lafayette 7 16 15 15(6-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) DENVER 15 14 12 7(7-7, 1-1 Sun Belt)
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE: Kills 78 (Amy Kraljev 18, Clarice Laires 18, Priscilla Lima 16, Ashley Burns 11);
Digs 98 (Kraljev 25, Hollie Girouard 19, Lima 15, Laires 14, Janaina Gomes 10);
Blocks 11.5 (Laires 6, Kim Chance 6);
Assists 74 (Beth Hanson 68).
DENVER:
Kills 52 (Sarah Kaye 17, Kellie Savage 15);
Digs 71 (Savage 15, Jenn Karas 13, Kaye 12);
Blocks 12.0 (Kristin Savage 6, Kellie Savage 5, Clarice Golesh 5);
Assists 48 (Golesh 43).
T: 2:04. A: 100.
