Volleyball: Cajuns Complete Sweep of ULM, Extend Win Streak to Eight

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team fired away with a .300-plus hitting percentage in each set to sweep ULM 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-13) on Sunday at Earl K. Long Gym.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns (13-7, 6-0 Sun Belt) increased their winning streak to eight matches and extended the school record undefeated start in conference play.
 
After a see-saw affair in the first set, which featured 18 ties and six lead changes, Louisiana utilized a 31-15 advantage in kills and led the entirety of the remainder of the match in putting away the Warhawks (4-19, 0-6 Sun Belt).
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the match with their Sun Belt play season-best percentage of .354 and had an 80 percent success rate on sideouts. Louisiana used a balanced attack of five players with at least seven kills in overwhelming ULM.
 
Sunday’s win completed the Ragin’ Cajuns’ weekend sweep of the Warhawks. Louisiana topped ULM in four sets on Friday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe.
 
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Freshman Hali Wisnoskie landed a match-high 14 kills, her highest tally in Sun Belt play, in leading the Cajuns quintet that reached seven kills.
 
Stacey Reilly produced 11 kills which upped her career total to 938 and pushed her past Liz Inman (2005-08) for third-most in the rally scoring era.  
 
Nine kills from Nia Antoine and seven apiece from Dree’Ana Abram and Hanna Rovira was the remainder of the offensive production – each picking up their total with less than 20 swings. Rovira hit .500 (7 K, 1 E, 12 TA), giving her a .400-plus attack percentage in both matchups with the Warhawks (.429 on Friday).
 
Libero Sydney Davis scooped a team-high 15 digs, Reilly collected 10 to give her a team-best ninth double-double of the year, and freshmen Avery Breaux and Lexi Hebert each had nine digs.
 
Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn‘s 33 assists moved her past 2,500 for her career, joining Kendra Hall, Mandi Gavin and Andrea Hole in reaching the mark in the rally scoring era. Bartczyszyn averaged 10-plus assists per set for the fourth time in six SBC matches.
 
UP NEXT
The Ragin’ Cajuns travel to Arkansas the weekend of Oct. 13-15 for Sun Belt Conference rematches with Little Rock and Arkansas State.
 
Louisiana will be in Little Rock on Friday, Oct. 13 for a 6:30 p.m. match with the Trojans at the Jack Stephens Center, then travel to Jonesboro to meet the Red Wolves at Noon on Sunday, Oct. 15 inside the Convocation Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
– Each team answered the other’s point in the tightly contested opening set. The Cajuns lead grew no larger than two, and though they trailed on multiple occasions never fell behind by more than a point.
 
The Warhawks’ last lead came at 21-20 on a kill Kalena Caruthers. Rovira answered with a kill, evening the set and starting a string of five unanswered points – the first four off kills – from the Ragin’ Cajuns which ended the frame.
 
– Louisiana won the first three rallies of the second set and jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The turning point came at 7-5 when a kill by Abram and subsequent block from Antoine and Rovira sparked a 9-1 run that buried the visitors.
 
– Wisnoskie, who was limited to four kills on Friday in Monroe, delivered the final blow of the afternoon at the start of the third set. She personally landed three of the four kills Louisiana notched on a set-opening 4-0 run that had the Warhawks scuffling the rest of the way
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns’ final push came after ULM won a challenge which trimmed its deficit to 12-7. A Wisnoskie kill won the serve back, then Davis served up four straight points to stretch the lead to 17-7.
 
QUICK HITS
– Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot picked up her 132nd win as Ragin’ Cajuns head coach. She’s now four (4) wins shy of tying Wilo Colon’s program-record 136 victories.
 
– Nia Antoine‘s nine kills increased her career total to 476, leaving her 24 shy of her 500th career tally.
 
– Hanna Rovira hit above .200 in SBC play for the fourth straight match (dates back to Sept. 29 vs. ASU). Since taking over the right side hitter’s role back on Sept. 23 at Georgia State, Rovira has produced 36 kills against only six errors over 104 attempts (.288 attack pct.).
 
– Hali Wisnoskie moved within two kills of becoming the first freshman since Stacey Reilly in 2014 to amass 200 kills in a single season. Wisnoskie has totaled 198 kills so far in her rookie campaign, and is the team’s present per set leader with 2.83 kills per set.
 
– Sydney Davis added 15 more digs to her week-long total, giving her 57 over 10 sets of action against Southeastern Louisiana and ULM. Davis averaged 5.70 digs per set for the week – the second straight week finishing above 5.0 per set.
 
– Stacey Reilly‘s 11 kills represented her 53rd career match (out of 107) with double digits in kills. The double-double of 11 kills/10 digs was the 35th double-double of her career.
 
– The Ragin’ Cajuns offense has used a balanced attack in Sun Belt play. In league play, the squad has five players averaging over 1.80 kills per set.
 
– Louisiana averaged over 16 kills per set in Sunday’s sweep of the Warhawks. The Ragin’ Cajuns are averaging 13.7 kills per set in Sun Belt Conference play, which represents a significant jump from 12.8 kills per set in non-conference matches.
 
– The Ragin’ Cajuns’ eight-match win streak is the longest since the 2014 team won 10 straight to open the season. During the current win streak, the team is hitting .251 (above .200 in all but one match) and is averaging 14.1 kills and 18.2 digs per set.
 
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).