Volleyball Drops Sun Belt Opener

Saturday, September 23

Boca Raton, Fla.

7:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

Louisiana-Lafayette

9/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Sept. 23, 2006

Final Stats

In its Sun Belt Conference opener, Florida Atlantic University's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (21-30, 27-30, 33-31) match to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette at FAU Arena on Saturday night. Janelle Sarauw led the Owls with 18 kills and 10 digs in her second double-double of the year.

Sarauw came on strong in game three as FAU pushed Louisiana-Lafayette. She picked up 10 of her kills in the game. Moving to the outside position this season has allowed the senior from St. Thomas, V.I. to get more attack attempts.. She took advantage of a small block and had several strong hits down the line, to give the Owls a little momentum and almost force a fourth-game. FAU had game point at 29-28 but a kill by Elizabeth Inman tied it up.

The Owls had another opportunity at 30-29 but the Ragin' Cajuns' Kim Rodgers put down a kill to stave off the end of the game. The two teams battled until Jamie Sinegal ended the match with one of her match-high 19 kills as Louisiana-Lafayette improved to 4-9, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference.

In game three, FAU (3-8, 0-1 SBC) hit .314 compared to Louisiana-Lafayette's .236, but the Ragin Cajun's held the advantage for the match with a .237 hitting percentage.

Katie Arvidson (Franklin, TN) contributed 10 kills, while fellow middle hitter Justine Petry (Trumansburg, N.Y.) added nine kills and four blocks. Defensively, the Owls were led by libero Nikki Hartman (Deltona, FL).

The Ragin' Cajuns had three players finish with double-digit digs. Libero Erika Castro finished with a match-high 20 digs and Kendra Hall added 12. Sinegal finished with a double-double by adding 10 digs to her 19 kills.

Former FAU player Christy Voytko acted as an honorary coach for the match. The FAU career record holder in aces and blocks played at FAU from 1990-93. She held the record for career kills until Iana Andonova broke the mark this season. Voytko was part of the team that made the transition into the Atlantic Sun Conference and was on the bench as FAU played its first match in the Sun Belt Conference.

On Sunday, FAU will play its second of three Sun Belt matches in as many days. Florida Atlantic will host the University of Louisiana-Monroe at 2 p.m. at FAU Arena.