LAFAYETTE, La. – UTSA dropped its third and final match of the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic on Saturday, losing to tournament host Louisiana-Lafayette, 3-2.
The Roadrunners (1-5) entered the final match of the weekend tournament after a double-header on Friday which saw the Roadrunners drop back-to-back matches to UTRGV and NDSU.
Saturday's match against ULL (4-2) saw the two teams alternate set wins back and forth until the Ragin' Cajuns claimed the fifth and final set, 15-8.
UTSA was led on the day by Cansu Günaydin who tallied 21 kills on 56 attempts for a 23.2 attack percentage. Amanda Ifeanyi contributed 15 kills of her own and had a .367 attacking percentage, the highest on the team. Courtney Walters continued to set up her teammates, as the senior setter notched 53 total assists on the day.
Mia Ybarra and Kelsey Carpenter each had three aces across the five sets to lead the team. Ybarra also was among the team leader in digs with 14, trailing only Ava Camacho who tallied 19.
Because of her performance over the weekend tournament, Amanda Ifeanyi was named to the All-Tournament team.
Set One (Louisiana: 30-28: UTSA)
The first set saw both teams perform well on the offensive side of action, as both squads had a hitting percentage over .330. The Roadrunners had 17 kills as a team, outperforming the 16 of ULL, but were unable to come away with a first-set victory.
Set Two (UTSA: 26-24: Louisiana)
The story changed from offense to defense in the second set as both teams' attacking percentages dropped drastically and neither was able to muster over .100 for the set. UTSA used 12 kills and 10 ULL attack errors to fuel its second-set victory.
Set Three (Louisiana: 25-19: UTSA)
Louisiana got off to a fast start in the third set, claiming an early lead over UTSA. The Ragin' Cajuns were able to maintain the lead and carry the early momentum throughout the set, ultimately claiming the victory 25-19.
Set Four (UTSA: 25-14: Louisiana)
The Roadrunners responded to Louisiana's third set performance with some dominant play of their own. UTSA won the fourth set by its largest set margin of the season, claiming an 11-point victory. ULL was limited to just 11 kills, whereas UTSA tied its match0high with 17 kills in the set.
Set Five (Louisiana: 15-8: UTSA)
Louisiana would halt the Roadrunner momentum from the fourth set in the fifth, as it stifled the UTSA offense. The Ragin' Cajuns played a clean fifth set (11 kills and only one error) and were able to ultimately win the set and match.
Up Next
UTSA will be back in action next weekend as it returns home to host its own early-season tournament. The UTSA Invitational will feature McNeese State, whom UTSA has already beaten this year, USF and UT Arlington. The tournament begins on Friday, Sept. 9 and UTSA's first game of the day is at 12:30 p.m. against McNeese State.
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