Cajuns Take the Court in Sun Belt Tournament on Friday

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Kicks Off Sun Belt Tournament Play Friday
Friday, Nov. 17, 2017 vs. UTA or Appalachian State | 5 p.m. | Jonesboro, Ark.

Match 31: Louisiana (20-10) vs. UTA (13-16) or Appalachian State (11-19)
Friday, Nov. 17 • 5 p.m. • First National Bank Arena (10,563) • Jonesboro, Ark.
UTA Series: UTA leads 15-3
Last Meeting: 11/12/2017 in Arlington, Texas – Louisiana W, 3-1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-22, 25-20)
App State Series: Tied 3-3
Last Meeting: 10/20/2017 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19)
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN3)

Sun Belt Tournament Central
Rosters: Louisiana | UTA | Appalachian State
Schedules: Louisiana | UTA | Appalachian State
Season Stats: Louisiana | UTA | Appalachian State
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @RaginCajunsVB
Opponents' Twitter: @UTAVolleyball | @AppStateVB

SUN BELT TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Appearances: 12 (1991, 1997-2002, 2010, 2012-14, 2017)
All-Time Record: 4-12
Last Tournament Match: 11/27/2014 in San Marcos, Texas – vs. Arkansas State L, 0-3 (15-25, 15-25, 15-25)

SETTING THE SCENE
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team (20-10) opens play in the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Friday against the winner of the UTA-Appalachian State first round contest. First serve for the quarterfinal match is set for 5 p.m. from First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro, Ark.

The winner of Friday's contest advances to Saturday's 5 p.m. semifinal match against Texas State (23-8).

The Ragin' Cajuns, returning to the SBC Tournament for the first time since 2014, are the No. 3 seed for this year's event – the highest seed in program history. The squad went 13-3 in league play during the regular season and finished as runner-up in the SBC West Division.

Louisiana went undefeated against its quarterfinals round competition during the regular season. The Ragin' Cajuns swept the season series from UTA (13-16), capped off by a four-set win in the season finale last Sunday in Arlington. In the only meeting with Appalachian State (11-19), the Ragin' Cajuns posted a straight sets sweep at Earl K. Long Gym back on Oct. 20.

On offense the Ragin' Cajuns are accustomed to receiving a balanced effort from all five of their starting attackers. SBC Freshman of the Year Hali Wisnoskie (308 kills) and Stacey Reilly (306 kills) are the top two contributors at 2.85 kills per set and 2.68 kills per set, respectively. The duo is supported by Nia Antoine (230 kills; 2.13 per set), Dree' Ana Abram (224 kills; 2.02 per set) and Hanna Rovira (161 kills; 1.81 per set).

In Sun Belt Conference play, Louisiana saw all five of its starting attackers right at or above 2.00 kills per set.

Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn, a second team All-Sun Belt pick, has guided the Ragin' Cajuns to a .218 season hitting percentage marking a significant rise from .187 in 2016. Louisiana hit .200 or better in 20 of its 30 regular season outings.

The biggest factor in the Ragin' Cajuns' success this season has been a marked improvement in defense. Led by first team All-Sun Belt performer Dree'Ana Abram with 117 blocks and Nia Antoine with 100 blocks, the team ranked second in the Sun Belt in blocks per set. Libero Sydney Davis, a second team All-Sun Belt choice, piled up 559 digs at 4.90 per set rate to pace the squad to the second-best average in the league (16.88).

Louisiana seeks its first Sun Belt Tournament victory Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's tenure and the program's first since a sweep of Arkansas State in the 2000 tournament held in New Orleans.

Friday's match, and all other should the Ragin' Cajuns advance in the tournament, will be available for viewing on ESPN3. Fans can also follow along through live stats on the team's schedule page at RaginCajuns.com.

NOTEWORTHY
ALL-CONFERENCE CAJUNS: Four Ragin' Cajuns were named to the 2017 All-Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Team and Hali Wisnoskie was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. Wisnoskie and Dree'Ana Abram represented the Ragin' Cajuns on the All-Sun Belt First Team. Jessica Bartczyszyn and Sydney Davis were selected to the All-Sun Belt Second Team.

QUITE A HAUL: Louisiana's four All-Sun Belt selections mark the most in program history. It also increases the number of all-conference performers in Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's tenure to eight and the program's all-time total to 20.

THE SELECT FEW: Hali Wisnoskie is just the third Ragin' Cajun named freshman of the year by the Sun Belt, joining greats Nia Kiggundu (1993) and Janaina Gomes (1998) on the list.

LEAVING A LEGACY: The Ragin' Cajuns senior class has been involved in both of the program's 20-win regular seasons the past four seasons. Back in 2014, led by the now-seniors who were freshmen, Louisiana finished 20-12 in regular season play for the first 20-win season since 1990.

A RECORD-BREAKING YEAR: The 2017 season will go down as the finest in Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball history in the Sun Belt Conference era (1991-present). The squad started Sun Belt play with a record 7-0 mark, posted the first winning conference mark since 2002 and set the school record for SBC wins (previous was 11 in 2000). The reward is the program's highest seed ever (No. 3) in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

TEAM FIRST: The Ragin' Cajuns utilized a balanced attack on offense in their rise to the top of the Sun Belt. Five different players averaged right at or above 2.00 kills per set in league play. The team effort also showed in digs as five scooped 100-plus and in blocks as six had at least 20 in SBC action.

FAST START, QUICK FINISH: The Ragin' Cajuns success this year can be attributed to a 19-11 record in first set and a 14-5 mark when matches are extended past a third frame. In each of the team's 11 victories from Sept. 16 through Oct. 26, the Ragin' Cajuns were the victor in the first set.

SHE CAN DO IT ALL: Outside hitter Stacey Reilly scored eight kills and scooped nine digs on Sunday at UTA, pushing her season totals in both categories over 300. It's her second consecutive 300-300 season of kills and digs (had 387 kills, 347 digs in 2016).

ONE OF A KIND: Senior outside hitter Stacey Reilly became a member of the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig club this season. She's the first Ragin' Cajun to accomplish the feat since Priscilla Lima (1999-2002). Presently, she is one of only 30 active Division I players who can boast of the distinction (includes fellow Sun Belt colleague's Leah Hardeman of Coastal Carolina and Qiana Canete of UTA). Reilly currently owns 1,035 kills and 1,194 digs.

DRIVE 'EM BACK DREE: Dree'Ana Abram posted the first 100-plus blocks season by a Ragin' Cajun since 2014 (current total is 117) when she climbed above the mark on Nov. 4 at Troy. She threw up at least four blocks in 10 of 16 SBC matches and 17 matches overall this season. Abram enters the Sun Belt Tournament coming off back-to-back weekends with double digits in blocks (15 on USA/Troy trip; 11 on TXST-UTA trip).

A WIZ ON OFFENSE: Freshman Hali Wisnoskie is just the second Ragin' Cajuns freshman to reach 300 kills in the rally scoring era (2001-pres.). Now at 308 kills in her rookie campaign, she is 32 shy of equaling the most recorded by a freshman in the era (Amie Goodwin, 340 in 2007).

DAVIS DIGS IT: Libero Sydney Davis is now up to 559 digs this season – her career best total. She is 41 digs away from joining Lindsay Brown (605 in 2010) as the only two players in program history to eclipse 600 digs in a single season. Davis has scooped 20-plus digs 11 times this season.

SETTING THE PACE: Senior setter Jessica Bartczyszyn has reached 1,000 assists for the second straight season. Currently at 1,096 assists, she is just 48 shy of matching her career-best (1,144 in 2016).

RELIABLE ROVIRA: Key to the Cajuns success in Sun Belt play was the performance of Hanna Rovira at the right side hitter's slot. She had an impact in both offensively (hitting .253) and defensively (35 total blocks) and hit at or above .200 in 10 of 16 SBC matches.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE: One of the Ragin' Cajuns' goals was to have one of the Top 3 defenses in the Sun Belt. Entering the conference tournament, the team ranks second in digs (16.88/set) and blocks (2.46/set), and sits fifth in opponents' hitting percentage (.188) on the edge of the third place (Coastal Carolina, .179).

TOP OF THE CHARTS: Louisiana win at South Alabama on Nov. 3 made Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot the Ragin' Cajuns' all-time winningest coach. She picked up her 137th win as Ragin' Cajuns head coach that night, surpassing the previous record of 136 set by Wilo Colon from 1986-90.

COACH MAZEITIS-FONTENOT'S THOUGHTS
On the journey to Top 3 finish in the league: "We called the last half of league play 'the gauntlet' for a reason. The fact that we did go 6-2 against some amazing teams, is incredible. We did fall short of one of our goals – winning the West – but 13-3 and runner-up in the West marks a monstrous step forward for our program."

On outlook for Sun Belt Tournament: "It's exciting, knowing that this doesn't have to be our last weekend of play. We actually have a shot to win it. I believe we do: we lost to Coastal in five, split with Texas State and Arkansas State and beat South Alabama. It's there for us…if we want to go after it."

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 Take the Court in Sun Belt Tournament on Friday

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Cajuns Take the Court in Sun Belt Tournament on Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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