Volleyball: Cajuns Capture Victory on Final Day in Chicago – After Splitting Pair of Matches

CHICAGO – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team secured its second winning record in a weekend tournament following a 3-1 (25-20, 12-25, 25-23, 25-16) win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday in the Chicago State Invitational.

After outlasting the Eagles (8-8) with the match lead on the line in the third set, the Ragin’ Cajuns (6-7) dominated the fourth frame with a .406 hitting percentage to seal the victory.

The win gave Louisiana a final weekend mark of 2-1 in Chicago. The squad split a pair of matches on Friday, defeating host-Chicago State in four sets and falling to eventual tournament champion Wright State in three.

Stacey Reilly (Sr., OH, Houston, Texas) represented the Ragin’ Cajuns on the all-tournament team. After leading the team with 22 kills combined in Friday’s matches, she added 11 more on Saturday. Reilly’s final tournament line included 33 kills on a .215 hitting percentage and 22 digs.

LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Freshman Hali Wisnoskie (Fr., OH, Columbus, Texas) generated a match-high 16 kills. It was her second double-digit effort of the weekend (12 vs. Chicago State).

In addition to Reilly joining Wisnoskie in double digits, the Ragin’ Cajuns received key contributions from Hanna Rovira (Jr., OH, Baton Rouge, La.) who tallied eight kills on just 12 attempts, setter Jessica Bartczyszyn (Sr., S, Cary, Ill.) who added seven kills and Dree’Ana Abram (So., MB, Marshall, Texas) and Nia Antoine (Jr., MB, Lafayette, La.) who each tallied six kills.

Libero Sydney Davis (Jr., LB, Baton Rouge, La.) scooped 20-plus digs for the second time in the tournament (27 vs. Chicago State), finishing with a match-high 24 digs.

Bartczyszyn added 10 digs to her assists tally of 40 for her first double-double since Sept. 1 vs. Houston Baptist.

UP NEXT
Louisiana begins Sun Belt Conference play Friday-Saturday, Sept. 22-23 on the Georgia road trip. The Ragin’ Cajuns meet Georgia Southern in Statesboro on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (CDT), then travel to Atlanta to face Georgia State on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CDT).

HOW IT HAPPENED
– It was the team which took control early that claimed the first two sets. The Ragin’ Cajuns started the opening frame with an Abram/Wisnoskie block and Davis ace for the first of four unanswered to open the set and never trailed. EMU used a 10-0 run that stretched its early lead in the second set to 14-3 and went on to even the match.

– The Ragin’ Cajuns, who dug out of a 9-5 deficit in the third set, found themselves trailing 17-14 but wouldn’t allow the Eagles to break free. A kill by Wisnoskie and ace from Lexi Hebert knotted the score at 18-all.

The teams swapped scores until back-to-back EMU kills opened a 22-20 edge. The Cajuns took advantage of a pair of errors to draw a tie again, then after a brief Eagles lead would score the final three points of the set getting kills from Wisnoskie and Abram to reclaim the match lead.

– The fourth set turned in the Ragin’ Cajuns’ favor after three straight kills – one apiece from Bartczyszyn, Abram and Rovira – opened an 8-4 lead and prompted an EMU timeout. After the Eagles broke serve, Louisiana won the next three rallies for an 11-5 edge.

EMU rallied and trimmed the deficit to 17-14, but the Ragin’ Cajuns had another push in them. A kill from Wisnoskie, followed by back-to-back from Rovira, jumpstarted a 6-0 run that put the Eagles away.

QUICK HITS
– Louisiana and Eastern Michigan met for just the second time in program history. The lone prior meeting occurred in August 2010 in Huntsville, Texas in a Sam Houston State-hosted tournament.

– Hali Wisnsokie’s .441 hitting percentage marked her second .400-plus clip of the Chi-State Invitational. The freshman outside hitter has hit above .400 in three of the last four matches.

– Sydney Davis‘ final digs tally for the tournament was 70. The Ragin’ Cajuns libero averaged 6.36 digs per set. She extended her current streak of consecutive matches with double digits in digs to 10 (dates back to Sept. 1 vs. HBU).

– Stacey Reilly collected her first all-tournament honor of the season. It was the seventh and final all-tournament accolade of her career.

– Hanna Rovira enjoyed one of her best matches of the season. The eight kills equaled her season-best output recorded in the opener vs. Tulane, while her .500 hitting percentage was the highest of the campaign and best since nine kills on a .900 percentage vs. Southern in 2015.

– The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the season with a winning record in two of the three tournaments they competed in: 3-1 in Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic (Sept. 1-2) and 2-1 in Chicago State Invitational (Sept. 15-16).

FOLLOW THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
For more information on Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball, as well as all of Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/ULVolleyball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsVB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsVB).

#GeauxCajuns

Cajuns Split Pair of Matches at Chicago State Invite

a split in action on the opening day of the Chicago State Invitational at the Jacoby Dickens Center.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (5-7) fired away at a .344 clip in besting host-Chicago State 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 22-25, 25-13) to start the day. In the nightcap, the squad was limited to a .067 hitting percentage and fell to Wright State in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 17-25).

Louisiana posted at least 15 kills in all three set victories over CSU (7-5) and totaled 60 in the match. The squad was held below a .100 hitting percentage for only the third time this season in the loss to WSU (5-7).

Graduate senior setter Jessica Bartczyszyn, who hails from Cary, Ill., played a collegiate match in her home state for the first time in her career.

LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Stacey Reilly (Sr., OH, Houston, Texas) and Dree’Ana Abram (So., MB, Marshall, Texas) both tallied 13 kills in leading a quartet of Cajuns in double figures against Chicago State. Hali Wisnoskie (Fr., OH, Columbus, Texas) landed 12 kills and Nia Antoine (Jr., MB, Lafayette, La.) added 10 kills.

Bartczyszyn handed out 50 assists in helping lead Louisiana to its second-highest hitting percentage of the season. She reached 50 for the second time this season and XX time her career.

Sydney Davis (Jr., LB, Baton Rouge, La.) scooped a season-high 27 digs and Avery Breaux (Fr., S, Scott, La.) joined her in double digits with 13. The Cajuns out-dug the Cougars, 71-54.

Abram and Antoine each posted four blocks in leading Louisiana to an 8-7 advantage in the match.

Reilly was the leader in kills against Wright State, adding nine more to her total on the day. Davis collected a match-high in digs once again with her 19 leading all players in the contest with the Raiders.

MILESTONE REACHED
Reilly picked up her 1,000th career dig during the Chicago State contest. She becomes the first outside hitter to reach the mark in the rally scoring era (2001-present).

UP NEXT
Louisiana concludes its stay in Chicago with a 2 p.m. match on Saturday against Eastern Michigan.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CHICAGO STATE: After recovering from an early deficit in the first set, the Cajuns utilized back-to-back blocks to trigger a 5-0 run that opened an 18-12 lead and solidified the win. Louisiana collected the first five points of the second set and thanks to a .500 hitting percentage in the frame were never threatened. The Cougars made an early lead hold up in the third set and extended the match. After the Cajuns trimmed the host’s lead to 13-12, CSU collected a sideout and took advantage of three straight miscues by the visitors to open a 17-12 lead. Louisiana hit .438 in the fourth set enabling the team to pull away and seal the match.

WRIGHT STATE: Kills from Bartczyszyn and Reilly gave the Cajuns an 8-4 lead in the opening set. Wright State, which hit .382 in the set, used an 8-2 spurt to take the lead for good. There were nine ties and four lead changes in the second set. Louisiana led 17-14 after Chynna Brooks kill, but four unanswered put the Raiders ahead. WSU fought off two ties late to open a 2-0 advantage. The Cajuns offense was unable to get untracked in the third set, committing nine errors and hitting -.025 in the defeat.

QUICK HITS
– Both matches marked the first-ever meeting between the Ragin’ Cajuns and the opposition.

– Dree’Ana Abram hit a season-best .550 (13 K, 2 E, 20 TA) in the Chicago State contest. She hit double digits in kills for the first time since the season opener vs. Tulane.

– Hali Wisnoskie‘s 12 kills vs. Chicago State marked the freshman outside hitter’s fifth match with double digits.

– Stacey Reilly‘s 22 kills on the day increased her career tally to 857. Already having reached 1,000 career digs, she’s steadily working her way to a 1,000-1,000 career.

– Sydney Davis, who scooped 46 digs combined over both matches, ended the day averaging nearly seven digs per set. She increased her season digs average to 4.59 per set.

– Louisiana’s .344 hitting percentage vs. Chicago State was the second-best performance of the season, trailing only the .460 performance vs. Mississippi Valley (Sept. 2).

– The Ragin’ Cajuns returned to form in serve receive, committing only two reception errors over seven sets on Friday. In the team’s last outing vs. Mississippi State, the Bulldogs posted 11 service aces.

FOLLOW THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
For more information on Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball, as well as all of Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with the team on Facebook (/ULVolleyball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsVB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsVB).

#GeauxCajuns