Ragin' Cajuns Establish School Record Conference Start
MONROE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team extended its current win streak and established a new school record for best conference start following a 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-13, 25-20) win over ULM at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The Ragin' Cajuns win streak moved to seven matches and the squad improved to 12-7, 5-0 Sun Belt. The SBC start bests the previous record conference start of 4-0 established by the 1986 team in the Southland Conference.
After splitting the first two sets with the Warhawks (4-18, 0-5 Sun Belt), Louisiana dialed up the defensive pressure and ran away with the third set, 25-13, to reclaim the lead in the match. The Ragin' Cajuns won the first two points of the fourth set and were able to remain ahead of the Warhawks before putting away the set with a 6-1 run that opened an 18-11 edge.
Louisiana's four-set triumph ended a string of five consecutive five-set affairs with ULM which dated back to Nov. 2014.
The two teams met in the first match of a home-and-home weekend. The Ragin' Cajuns and Warhawks will serve it up again on Sunday at Earl K. Long Gym in a 2 p.m. match. It'll be Daddy-Daughter Day with the first 150 fans receiving a 20 percent off Ragin' Cajuns Store coupon, a photo booth for memorable photos, a special intermission contest and time on the court after the match.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Nia Antoine tallied a match-high 13 kills, reaching double digits in Sun Belt play for the fourth time in five outings. Dree'Ana Abram and Hanna Rovira each posted nine kills on 21 swings. Lexi Hebert came through with a season-high five kills, all from the back row.
Libero Sydney Davis collected a team-best 16 digs and was joined in double figures by Avery Breaux (14), Reilly (14) and Hebert (12).
Antoine and setter Jessica Bartczyszyn each threw up two block solos, leading the Cajuns to six as a team. Bartczyszyn added 37 assists and nine digs to her stat line.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Louisiana climbed out of a 13-10 deficit with six straight points. After a Warhawks service error, a block solo and kill from Reilly evened the score, then Rovira punched a kill and combined with Abram on a block and a ULM attack error finished off the run.
The Warhawks rallied to forge a 17-all tie, but lost the serve on the next rally. The Cajuns capitalized by notching an ace off of Abram's serve and forcing the hosts to hit into back-to-back miscues to stretch the lead to 21-17.
- ULM scored on the first three rallies of the second set, jumped ahead 8-2 and fended off Cajuns advances late to win 25-19 and even the match.
- The Ragin' Cajuns took control of the third set after Antoine killed an overpass for a 6-5 lead, then Abram followed with an ace for a two-point edge. The turning point came at 9-7 when Antoine and Hebert landed kills to start a 6-0 run that opened a 15-7 lead. Along the way the Cajuns received a pair of blocks from Antoine to keep ULM reeling.
Louisiana's third block of the frame came from Abram and it moved the lead into double digits. Kills from Rovira and Wisnoskie later led to set point which reclaimed the match lead.
- Louisiana led from start to finish in the fourth set. Both times the Warhawks pulled within a point, the Cajuns would get a kill to maintain the lead.
It was a block solo from Bartczyszyn at 12-10 which ignited the 6-1 run which helped Louisiana gain plenty of breathing room and sealed the eventual match-clinching triumph.
QUICK HITS
- Nia Antoine pushed her career kills total to 467, as she continues to progress to the 500 mark of her career.
- The 13 kills pushed Nia Antoine's team-leading total in Sun Belt matches this season to 66. She's averaging 3.3 kills per set in SBC action.
- Freshman Lexi Hebert reached double digit in digs for the fourth straight match (began Sept. 29 vs. Arkansas State). She's piled up 58 over 16 sets during the streak (3.63 per set).
- Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn increased her career assists total to 2,489, leaving her 11 shy of joining Mandi Gavin, Kendra Hall and Andrea Hole as Ragin' Cajuns setters to amass 2,500 in a career during the rally scoring era.
- Hanna Rovira continued her strong showing since taking over the right side hitter's role back on Sept. 23 at Georgia State. Her .429 hitting percentage (9 K, 0 E, 21 TA) against the Warhawks was her best mark of the run. In SBC play, Rovira has produced 29 kills against only five errors on 92 attempts.
- As a team, Louisiana dug at an average of 18.5 digs per set which eclipsed the squad's Sun Belt-leading season average of 17.04 per set. The Ragin' Cajuns digs average was above 17 per set for the fourth time in five SBC matches.
- Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot picked up her 131st win as Ragin' Cajuns head coach. She's now five (5) wins shy of tying Wilo Colon's program-record 136 victories.
Hoppe’s monster effort propels TXST past Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Texas State volleyball team defeated Little Rock 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 26-24) in a Sun Belt Conference match Friday night inside Jack Stephens Center.
The Bobcats (12-7, 4-1 SBC) earned their fourth-straight win, all by way of sweep. They also evened the all-time series with the Trojans (5-12, 1-4 SBC) at 5-5.
Erin Hoppe was the driving force of the offense, as she dished out 47 assists. The mark was a career-high in a three-set match for the senior setter and also the most by any Sun Belt player this year.
Sophomore Megan Porter (13), senior Jaliyah Bolden (12) and sophomore Amy Pflughaupt (11) all contributed double-digit kills. Junior Madison Daigle (8) and true freshman Tyeranee Scott (8) combined for 16 kills with two just errors on 25 swings. Sophomore Micah Dinwiddie had a match-high 15 digs.
Texas State had no luck figuring out the home side during the early proceedings, as Little Rock raced out to a 13-7 advantage. The Bobcats cut the deficit down to two at 13-11, but the Trojans pushed back ahead to find a 20-15 lead. The maroon and gold tightened up and used an 8-0 run on Pflughaupt's serve to steal the period 25-23.
The two teams played to a 10-10 standstill in the second period, and it was the visitors that went ahead 18-13 thanks to an 8-3 run. Little Rock was unable to maintain any discernible comeback attempt, as the Bobcats claimed the frame 25-18.
The third set was all Texas State early, as the visitors took leads of 10-5 and 15-10. The Bobcats even found a comfortable 19-14 advantage, but the Trojans would not go down quietly. They used a 7-1 run to take a 21-20 lead and force TXST to burn both timeouts. The Bobcats stayed strong, however, and were able to secure their second match point with a 26-24 set victory.
No Trojan reached double-digit kills. Mya Robinson led the way with nine kills and nine digs. Taylor Lindberg had 32 assists, while Sydnee Martin added 11 digs.
TXST had match highs in kills (53-38), hitting percentage (.373-.220), assists (52-35), digs (48-40) and blocks (5-2). Little Rock led in service aces (5-0).
Texas State will now make the trek north for a showdown with defending SBC West champion Arkansas State. The Bobcats and Red Wolves will square off at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
@AStateVB Sweeps UTA
JONESBORO, Ark. (10/6/17) – The Arkansas State volleyball team returned home Friday night to pick up its first home sweep of the season over UT Arlington 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-18) as the Red Wolves out hit the Mavericks .274-.137 at the Convocation Center.
A-State (10-8, 3-2 SBC) registered nine blocks to UTA’s four and hit four service aces, while the Mavericks (8-10, 2-3 SBC) had none the whole match. Drew Jones was the top performer for the Red Wolves with her team-best ninth double-double of the season, which included a team-high 13 kills on a .448 attacking percentage and 10 digs. Carlisa May recorded 10 kills, while Ellie Watkins handed out 28 assists. Defensively, Tatum Ticknor led with 12 digs and Timber Terrell had four blocks.
“This was a total team effort tonight,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “I thought we played pretty well overall as a team tonight in all facets of the game. I felt like we got back to playing our style of volleyball so this was a step in the right direction. Now we have to shift our attention to a very good Texas State team.”
UT Arlington led 10-9 early in set one, but a 4-0 run, capped by a Jessica Uke block put A-State on top 13-10. The Mavericks did battle back to within 20-19 late in the set, but a 5-0 run by the Red Wolves, the last on an ace by Lindsay Cline, clinched a 25-19 set one win. The second set was tied 11-11 early on and the Red Wolves only led 18-17 late. However, the home team finished the frame on a 7-1 run with a block by Uke and Jones clinching a 25-18 second set triumph.
The third set began much the same as the first two with the two teams knotted at 12-12 early on, but an 8-1 Arkansas State run, finished on a block by Jones and Terrell, pushed A-State out front 20-13. A UTA timeout didn’t slow down the Red Wolves much as the squad was able to maintain an advantage and go on to win the set 25-18 on a block by Uke and Watkins.
Zhanelle Geathers led the Mavs with 15 kills, while Qiana Canete had 14 kills and 14 digs.
Arkansas State returns to action Saturday, Oct. 7 against Texas State. First serve from the Convocation Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and the match will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Chants Down Georgia Southern in Four
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team rebounded from its first Sun Belt loss of the season last weekend with a four-set victory over Georgia Southern Friday night at the HTC Center.
Coastal (7-7, 4-1 SBC) split the first two sets with Georgia Southern (5-10, 2-3), 25-16, 17-25, before claiming the final two sets by 25-21 and 25-19 margins, respectively.
The Chants opened the match with their highest hitting percentage, posting a .310 mark as they cruised to a nine-point set win. Four Chants put down a trio of kills in the set, including Kyla Manning, Leah Hardeman, Aristea Tontai and Larissa Dos Santos. Hardeman also added five digs, and Coastal had three players with blocks to limit the Eagles to hitting .069.
Georgia Southern's Cathrine Murray put down four kills in the second period to lead the Eagles' .286 hitting percentage. Georgia Southern led the set from start to finish, and it was the only set of the match to have no ties or lead changes.
Hardeman and Kinga Windisch landed four shots each in the third game as Coastal won the set by four points to give the match lead back to the home side. The Chants were trailing 20-16 before winning six straight points to overtake the lead and force Georgia Southern into a timeout. Coastal closed the set with two Eagle errors and a Windisch kill.
Georgia Southern grabbed an early lead in the fourth, but a 6-2 Coastal run swung momentum towards the Chants and the Eagles never managed to recover. Hardeman had eight kills in the final game, and the Chants led by as many as six points as they closed out the match.
Hardeman finished the match with 17 kills and 14 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Dos Santos and Dora Lulic followed with seven kills each.
Dos Santos paced the Chants at the net with four blocks as Coastal tallied eight total.
Sara Boothe was the second Chant with a double-double, recording 38 assists and 11 digs.
Coastal returns to the HTC Center on Sunday to host Georgia State for a 12:30 pm match.
PANTHERS OUTLAST APP STATE
BOONE, NC- Georgia State volleyball won a five-set marathon match over Sun Belt rival Appalachian State Friday night in Boone. The Panthers bested to the Mountaineers in five sets, (21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 22-20). The win was GSU’s eighth on the season.
The turning point in the match came late in the second set as the Mountaineers led 23-18. A kill by Sarah Renner would spark an 8-1 GSU run to give the Panthers a 26-24 set two win. Georgia State would control play in the third, cruising to a 25-20 win, before falling in the fourth set.
The Panthers would once again find their backs against the wall trailing 11-14 in set five. However, GSU showed great resiliency fighting to win a thrilling deciding set 22-20 and clinch the match.
"Coming back from down 11-14 was huge for us", said coach Sally Polhamus. "Playing with confidence and finishing that fifth set says so much about our growth as a team."
Crystal Lee was a force in all aspects of the game notching 17 kills and 14 digs. Renner would add 20 digs of her own and 39 assists for her first 20-20 match of the season. Džemila Hadžic racked up 16 digs, seven kills, and an ace.
Georgia State continued to get it done from the service line, totaling seven aces on the night. Celeste Friesen’s four aces were a game high, as were her 34 digs. Anna Rantala added two aces of her own. GSU now has 113 aces on the season.
The Panthers will to keep the momentum as they travel to Coastal Carolina. Georgia State and the Chanticleers will meet on the court at 12:30 Sunday in Conway.