Cajuns Headed to Arkansas for Sun Belt Rematches

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Heads to Arkansas For Sun Belt Rematches
Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 at Little Rock | 6:30 p.m. | Little Rock, Ark.
Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017 at Arkansas State | 12 p.m. | Jonesboro, Ark.

Match 21: Louisiana (13-7, 6-0 Sun Belt) at Little Rock (6-13, 2-5 Sun Belt)
Friday, Oct. 13 • 6:30 p.m. • Jack Stephens Center (5,600) • Little Rock, Ark.
Series: Little Rock leads 37-10
Last Meeting: 9/30/2017 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 18-25, 25-20)
Live Stats | Live Video

Match 22: Louisiana (13-7, 6-0 Sun Belt) vs. Arkansas State (11-9, 4-3 Sun Belt)
Sunday, Oct. 15 • 12 p.m. • Convocation Center (10,563) • Jonesboro, Ark.
Series: Arkansas State leads 45-15
Last Meeting: 9/29/17 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 24-26, 28-26, 15-11)
Live Stats | Live Video

Rosters: Louisiana | Little Rock | Arkansas State
Schedules: Louisiana | Little Rock | Arkansas State
Season Stats: Louisiana | Little Rock | Arkansas State
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @RaginCajunsVB
Opponents' Twitter: @LittleRockVB | @AStateVB

SETTING THE SCENE
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team is in Arkansas the weekend of Oct. 13-15 for Sun Belt Conference rematches with Little Rock and Arkansas State.

The Ragin' Cajuns and Trojans meet Friday at 6:30 p.m. inside the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. Then on Sunday, the match with the Red Wolves at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro begins at Noon.

Louisiana (13-7, 6-0 SBC) was victorious in the first meetings against both teams at Earl K. Long Gym two weeks ago, topping the Red Wolves (11-9, 4-3 SBC) in five sets after fighting off match point three times in the fourth set and besting the Trojans (6-13, 2-5 SBC) in four the next night.

The Ragin' Cajuns rode the wave of five players tallying double digits in kills to outlast ASU back on Sept. 29 led by 15 from Stacey Reilly and a career-high 14 by Dree'Ana Abram. Louisiana's ability to outblock Little Rock (12-5) and limit the Trojans to a .151 hitting percentage were key to the win on Sept. 30.

Louisiana brings an eight-match win streak to Arkansas, last falling on Sept. 15 vs. Wright State in the Chicago State Invitational. It's the program's longest win streak since opening the 2014 season with 10 straight wins.

At 6-0 in Sun Belt play, the Ragin' Cajuns are off to not only the best start as a member of the league but the best conference start in school history (previous best was 4-0 by 1986 team in Southland Conference).

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. Louisiana enters the weekend with the Sun Belt Conference's best attack percentage (.225).

The Ragin' Cajuns have utilized a balanced effort on offense since the onset of Sun Belt play. Through the first three weeks of league play, there are five different players averaging over 1.80 kills per set.

Louisiana's offense has been led all season by Hali Wisnoskie (2.83 kills/set) and Stacey Reilly (2.82 kills/set) on the outside and Nia Antoine (2.57 kills/sets) and Dree'Ana Abram (1.86 kills/set) in the middle. In SBC play, Hanna Rovira has sparked the team on the right side, averaging 1.80 kills per set on a .286 attack percentage to give the offense a fifth dimension.

Perhaps the most noticeable improvement in the Cajuns this season has been the back row. Libero Sydney Davis' efforts (4.74 digs pet set) have been reinforced by the addition of freshman defensive specialists Lexi Hebert (2.71 digs/set) and Avery Breaux (2.41 digs/set).

NOTEWORTHY
ROAD TESTED: The Ragin' Cajuns have been triumphant on the opposition's home floor each of the last four chances. The streak began with a four-set win at Chicago State back on Sept. 15.

QUICK STARTS, STRONG FINISHES: The Ragin' Cajuns success this year can be attributed to a 14-6 record in first sets and 10-4 mark when matches are extended past a third frame. Louisiana sports an 8-2 record in four-set matches and have been extended to five only twice.

RAISING THE BAR: Louisiana averaged over 16 kills per set in last Sunday's sweep of the ULM. 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.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE: One of the Ragin' Cajuns' goals is to have one of the Top 3 defenses in the Sun Belt. After seven weeks, the team leads the league in digs (17.11/set) and sits third in both blocks (2.26/set) and opponents' hitting percentage (.191).

ROVIRA'S RISE: Hanna Rovira has hit above .200 in SBC play the past four matches. She registered a .400-plus clip in both outings against ULM. Since taking over at right side on Sept. 23 at Georgia State, she has produced 36 kills against only six errors over 104 attempts (.288 attack pct.).

SETTING THE PACE: Senior setter Jessica Bartczyszyn has handed out 10-plus assists per set each weekend of Sun Belt play so far. She is averaging 10.61 per set in SBC play, guiding the Ragin' Cajuns to 13.7 kills per set and a .240 attack percentage in league matches.

SOUND COMPANY: Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn upped her career assists total to 2,522 following the ULM weekend. She became the fourth Ragin' Cajuns setter in the rally scoring era to reach 2,500 (others include Mandi Gavin, Kendra Hall and Andrea Hole).

LAST LEG TO 1,000: Senior Stacey Reilly's career kills total has increased to 938, continuing her climb toward the 1,000 mark. Already with 1,000 career digs, she's seeking to become the first Cajun with a 1,000-1,000 career since Priscilla Lima (1999-02) and first among players to play an entire career in the rally scoring era (2001-present).

MAGIC IN THE MIDDLE: The Ragin' Cajuns middle blockers have been swinging a hot arm at the onset of Sun Belt play. Dree'Ana Abram hit above .300 in each of the first four league matches. Nia Antoine's .500 percentage vs. Little Rock marked the second time at or above the mark (.536 at GS). Entering the rematches in Arkansas, Antoine is hitting .369 and Abram .353 in Sun Belt play.

THE WIZ KID: Freshman Hali Wisnoskie has produced 198 kills so far this season, placing the Columbus, Texas, native on the verge of becoming the first freshman with 200 in a season since Stacey Reilly (250) in 2014. Her rapid pace toward 200 was spearheaded by three straight weekends of 30-plus kills during the pre-conference tournaments (Sawyer Camillo Classic, Rice Adidas Invitational and Chi-State Invitational).

CLOSING ON RECORD: Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's wins total as Ragin' Cajuns head coach increased to 132 following last week's action. She's now four (4) wins shy of tying Wilo Colon's program-record 136 victories.

SUPER SENIOR: Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn is not your normal senior…she's a graduate student. Bartczyszyn received her bachelor's degree in English last spring. She's now pursuing a career in nursing, taking pre-requisite courses this semester before applying to graduate school in January.

VETERAN ATMOSPHERE: After spending the past two seasons nurturing and developing a young squad, head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot has experience on her side in 2017. The Ragin' Cajuns returned all but one starter and 13 players from last season. The program's current roster features nine upperclassmen.

COACH MAZEITIS-FONTENOT'S THOUGHTS
On highlight of current success: "The most important part in what we're doing right now is we're playing as team that is molded together. The fact that they are setting really high expectations of themselves in the practice setting only means that the matches are going to be that much more crisp. It's going to be fun to continue to watch them as we move forward."

On feeling any pressure with undefeated SBC start: "We've talked about it and they understand that we haven't won anything…we're not even halfway through conference play. 6-0 doesn't really mean anything. We emphasize the fact that we need to keep working. I feel better when I talk about things, so we mention it, but keep the 'let's get back to work' mindset."

UP NEXT
The Ragin' Cajuns return to Earl K. Long Gym to open the final homestand of the 2017 season. Louisiana hosts Appalachian State in the Dig Pink Match on Friday, Oct. 20 and Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 21 for Girl Scout Night. First serve for both matches is set for 6:30 p.m.

The matches with the Mountaineers and Chanticleers are the first of four on the homestand that wraps up the following week against UTA (Oct. 26) and Texas State (Oct. 28).

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).

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Cajuns Headed to Arkansas for Sun Belt Rematches

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Avery Breaux

Sydney Davis

Mandi Gavin

Lexi Hebert

Andrea Hole

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Cajuns Headed to Arkansas for Sun Belt Rematches

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Avery Breaux

Sydney Davis

Mandi Gavin

Lexi Hebert

Andrea Hole

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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