Aug. 27, 2010
Box Score
HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS - The Marist volleyball team dropped its season-opening match to Louisiana-Lafayette 3-1 (20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 21-25) on Friday afternoon at the Comfort Suites Sam Houston State University Invitational. Playing without Preseason All-MAAC selection Lindsey Schmid (Austin, Texas), the Red Foxes were led by freshman Grace Hill (Portage, Mich.) who tallied 15 kills and 12 digs in the match.
Marist (0-1) found itself trailing 8-1 to begin the first set, but battled back to close the gap to 19-16 behind three kills from sophomore Emily Brosky (Whitehall, Pa.) recorded four digs.
In the second set, Marist trailed by just one point after a kill by senior Allie Burke (Alpharetta, Ga.) made the score 7-6. With both teams continuing to trade points, the Ragin' Cajuns began to pull away after receiving kills from Caroline Dufrene and Gavin coupled with a pair of attack errors from Harridsleff. Louisiana-Lafayette would close out the set with two kills and a service ace from Taylor Meade and a kill from Blair Claypoole.
Marist jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the third set after kills from Hill and sophomore Katie Estes (Saugus, Calif.). Louisiana-Lafayette then regained the lead, 7-6, on kills by Claypoole and Kerrilyn Lazare. With the set tied 10-10, the Red Foxes pieced together a rally to take an 18-13 lead and eventually held on for a 25-20 victory. Hill added five more kills to close out the set which featured four ties and four lead changes.
Unable to build upon the momentum from the previous set, Marist quickly fell behind 4-0 to start the fourth set as the Ragin' Cajuns built a lead that they would not relinquish. The Red Foxes put together one final run as they closed to within two points late in the set, 22-20, but Louisiana-Lafayette sealed the victory with two kills from Lazare.
For the match, Louisiana-Lafayette outhit the Red Foxes, .316 to .191 in addition to holding a 53-45 advantage in kills and a 54-44 edge in digs. Brosky led the Red Foxes with 16 digs while Brooke Niland, Meade, and Lindsay Brown each recorded double-figure digs for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Marist will return to the court tonight for an 8 p.m. ET match against tournament host Sam Houston State.
