Nov. 11, 2005

Stats

LAFAYETTE, La. -- Amanda Millard (Southlake, Texas) tallied 12 kills, while Ashly Ball (Chula Vista, Calif.) notched a career-high 20 digs in DU's 30-25, 30-21, 30-21 sweep of Louisiana-Lafayette Friday evening. With the win, Denver finishes the conference season with a record of 15-9 overall and 8-4 in the Sun Belt, clinching the West Division Title. The Ragin' Cajuns drop to 5-19 on the season and 2-9 in Sun Belt contests.

Leading into the Sun Belt Tournament, Denver has secured wins in its last three conference matches and tallied its first conference road win since Oct. 1.

"We played very steady volleyball tonight," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "We maintained a balanced attack through all three games and got good output from a lot of different players. In addition, we had one of the best defensive efforts as a team, which serves as a great confidence builder heading into the tournament."

DU maintained control throughout the match, with the lead changing only five times in three games. The Pioneer defense limited ULL to a .189 attack percentage for the match. Lisa Hunter (St. Louis, Mo.) reached double-digits in kills for the 24th time this season with 10 kills on 19 attempts with only one error for a .474 attack percentage. Kim Muller (Ballwin, Mo.) also contributed 11 kills on 29 attempts (.276). Defensively, in addition to Ball's career night, Kristin Halt (St. Charles, Ill.) added 11 digs, followed by Sarah Adamis (Naperville, Ill.) with 10.

With the key to winning being contingent on a team's defense effort, Kuwata is confident in her squad's ability in the conference tournament based on tonight's performance. With their 60-dig effort tonight, the Pioneers posted the most digs in a three-game match all season.

"I feel really good about where this team is heading into the SBC tournament," Kuwata said. "Getting wins in our last three matches has given us great momentum and winning on the road tonight is another big plus."

The Pioneers await their seed and first opponent in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning Thursday, Nov. 17 and running through Saturday, Nov. 19 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.