Ragin' Cajuns Launch 2016 Campaign in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball begins the 2016 season on Friday facing Houston at 4:30 p.m. in the opening match of the Marriott Houston Westchase Invitational at Sharp Gym on the Houston Baptist University campus.

The season-opening weekend for the Ragin' Cajuns also includes matches with host-HBU (12 p.m.) and Weber State (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday.

Live stats can be found at RaginCajuns.com and updates will be available through the team's Twitter page (@UL_Volleyball).

Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot enters her ninth season at Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns return 12 players from the 2015 squad and add in six newcomers to the current unit.

Senior Chanelle Gardner (Parks, La./St. Martinville HS), who owns 736 career kills and is 13 blocks shy of 300, highlights the group of returners. Junior Stacey Reilly (Houston, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS) aims to return to the form of her standout freshman season and Jessica Bartczyszyn begins her second season at setter.

Radford transfer Katherine Young, a high school teammate of returning Ragin' Cajuns Sydney Davis and Hanna Rovira, is joined by five incoming freshmen in the newcomer group.

Coach Mazeitis-Fontenot's Thoughts:
"Our biggest challenge, and what's on my mind, is ensuring that we're not living in the past. Our focus is not on being better than last year, it's on how good we can be this year. We want to be a different team.

Who we are going to be this season is what my focus is on this weekend. We're trying to get them to understand that we can be a great offensive threat and a great defensive team…we just have to jump into that role.

All of our veterans are really taking responsibility for what they want this team to look like and who they want us to be. It's really great to see their maturity level rise."

SERIES NOTABLES
Houston: Ragin' Cajuns and Cougars meet for the fourth straight season (2013-16)…Matched up in the season opener for the second straight season (met in 2015 opener at Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock, Texas)…Louisiana associate head coach Jenny Andrew was a member of Houston's coaching staff from 2012-14.

Houston Baptist: Four of the five all-time meetings have taken place in Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's tenure, with the teams splitting the four matches…Ragin' Cajuns were part of the 2013 Marriott Houston Westchase Invitational field at Sharp Gym…Louisiana associate head coach Jenny Andrew was a member of HBU's coaching staff in 2011.

Weber State: First meeting between the Ragin' Cajuns and Wildcats.

UP NEXT
The 2016 home opener at Earl K. Long Gym takes place at 6:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Aug. 30 vs. Northwestern State. The NSU match starts a five-match homestand that also features the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic (Sept. 2-3) and a midweek contest with McNeese State (Sept. 6).

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Katherine Young