Volleyball Closes Out Homestand, Hosts Southern

Ragin' Cajuns host Southern University
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015
Earl K. Long Gym • Lafayette, La.

Match 8: Louisiana (2-5) vs. Southern University (0-6)
Tuesday, Sept. 8 • 7 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym • Lafayette, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 37-8
Last Meeting: 9/5/14 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-15)
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Rosters: Louisiana | Southern
Schedules: Louisiana | Southern
Season Stats: Louisiana | Southern
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @UL_Volleyball
Opponent's Twitter: @SouthernU_VB

LAFAYETTE – A four-match homestand concludes on Tuesday for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns volleyball team as the squad meets Southern University in a 7 p.m. match at Earl K. Long Gym.

The Ragin' Cajuns (2-5) began the homestand Labor Day weekend hosting the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic. Louisiana finished 2-1 in the event with wins over Jackson State and Nicholls State and the lone defeat coming in the championship match against Houston.

The Ragin' Cajuns enter Tuesday's match coming off marked improvements on offense. In four matches last week, the squad hit .195 and averaged 10.67 kills per set. In wins over Jackson State and Nicholls State, the Cajuns hit above .200 the entire length of both contests.

Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot welcomed the debut of returning veterans Sara Mossakowski and Stacey Reilly who both missed the season's opening weekend with injury. Mossakowski produced double digit kills all three matches in the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic while Reilly made her first appearance of the young season by playing back row defense in the tournament finale with Houston.

Mossakowski and St. Martinville's Chanelle Gardner are providing the bulk of the Cajuns offense. The duo averages a combined 5.30 kills per set, with Mossakowski leading the way at 2.71 kills per set and Gardner at 2.59 kills per set.

Gardner began to settle in during last week's action, hitting .350 while accumulating 53 kills over 18 sets. In the front row she piled up 18 blocks and with a season-best eight blocks vs. Houston spearheading a Cajuns' season-best 12 total team blocks.

Freshman Sydney Davis has solidified the libero role. She averaged 3.11 digs during the Sawyer Camillo Classic with only five reception errors over 18 sets. Reilly, limited to back row defense as she continues to recover from injury, made an immediate impact with 3.50 digs per set in her season debut vs. Houston.

Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn guided the Ragin' Cajuns offense to .207 hitting percentage in the Sawyer Camillo Classic including a season-best .278 percentage vs. Jackson State. Bartczyszyn accumulated a season-high 41 assists vs. JSU and matched that total against Houston.

Louisiana and Southern are meeting for the second straight season at Long Gym. The Cajuns and Jaguars met in the 2014 Sawyer Camillo Classic with UL posting a 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-15) triumph.

Southern remains in search of its first victory, both in a set and match, this season. The Jaguars have been swept in straight sets through six matches covering appearances in tournaments at Southern Miss and UT Rio Grande Valley.

Following Tuesday's match the Ragin' Cajuns travel to Houston for the final pre-conference tournament of the season. Louisiana will participate in the Adidas Rice Invitational with matches against host-Rice (Sept. 11), Colorado (Sept. 12) and Sam Houston State (Sept. 12).

NOTEWORTHY
CATCH 'EM WHILE YOU CAN: Following Tuesday's match vs. Southern, the Ragin' Cajuns won't be back at Earl K. Long Gym until Sept. 25 vs. ULM. The team will be at the Adidas Rice Invitational Sept. 11-12 then open Sun Belt Conference play on the road at UT Arlington and Texas State Sept. 18-20.

HOME COURT SUCCESS: Dating back to the 2010 season, the Ragin' Cajuns have posted 47 wins at Earl K. Long Gym. The squad's record in the facility during the timeframe is 47-19.

CLOSER TO SECOND: Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot is seven wins shy of sole possession of second place on the program's victories list. Her 105 wins have her chasing Sherry LeBas (111) for second, then Wilo Colon (136) for the lead.

SELECT COMPANY: At 226 career blocks, Chanelle Gardner is just 19 blocks shy of reaching the rally scoring era career Top 5. The group includes: Kim Rodgers (396), Mandi Gavin (290), Lesely Mirarchi (280) and Elizabeth Inman/Stacy Liverett (245).

SEVENTH HEAVEN: Sara Mossakowski is steadily approaching 700 kills for her career. She enters this week's play with 661 career kills, the bulk of which came the past two seasons. She needs 194 more kills this season to reach the rally scoring era Top 5 list (Kim Rodgers holds fifth place with 855 kills).

RIGHT WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Freshmen Sydney Davis and Hanna Rovira played as teammates the past three years at St. Joseph's Academy in Baton Rouge. In Saturday's Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic finale vs. Houston, the duo was on the floor together once again as both started each set of the match.

WORKING OVERTIME: None of the Ragin' Cajuns matches last week (Northwestern State and Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic) were completed in three sets. Louisiana competed in 18 sets over four matches, being extended to five sets twice (Northwestern State and Nicholls State).

SOUTHERN SERIES NOTABLES: Fifth meeting in the Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot era (Cajuns are 4-0)…46th meeting all-time, with Louisiana holding a 37-8 advantage…Bulk of the meetings occurred from 1976-90…Ragin' Cajuns have won the last 16 matchups...Louisiana has posted a straight sets sweep in the last 10 meetings.

#GeauxCajuns

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Sara Mossakowski

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira