Ragin' Cajuns Start Season's Final Road Trip in Alabama

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Starts Season's Final Road Trip in Alabama
Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 at South Alabama | 5 p.m. | Mobile, Ala.
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017 at Troy | 6:30 p.m. | Troy, Ala.

Match 27: Louisiana (17-9, 10-2 Sun Belt) at South Alabama (15-7, 10-2 Sun Belt)
Friday, Nov. 3 • 5 p.m. • Jaguar Gym (1,118) • Mobile, Ala.
Series: Louisiana leads 31-17
Last Meeting: 11/6/16 at Earl K. Long Gym – South Alabama W, 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20)
Live Stats | Live Video

Match 28: Louisiana (17-9, 10-2 Sun Belt) at Troy (9-18, 3-9 Sun Belt)
Saturday, Nov. 4 • 6:30 p.m. • Trojan Arena (5,200) • Troy, Ala.
Series: Louisiana leads 11-10
Last Meeting: 11/4/2016 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-19)
Live Stats | ESPN3

Rosters: Louisiana | South Alabama | Troy
Schedules: Louisiana | South Alabama | Troy
Season Stats: Louisiana | South Alabama | Troy
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @RaginCajunsVB
Opponents' Twitter: @USA_Jags_VB | @TroyTrojansVB

SETTING THE SCENE
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team starts a regular season-ending, four-match road trip that precedes the Sun Belt Conference Tournament (Nov. 16-19 in Jonesboro, Ark.) this weekend in Alabama facing South Alabama on Friday and Troy on Saturday.

The Ragin' Cajuns (17-9, 10-2 Sun Belt) are coming off a weekend sweep of UTA and Texas State at Earl K. Long Gym which vaulted the team back into the lead in the SBC West Division.

This weekend's set marks the lone meeting this season with both South Alabama (15-7, 10-2 Sun Belt) and Troy (9-18, 3-9 Sun Belt), both members of the SBC East Division.

Entering the weekend, head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot is one win away from becoming the Ragin' Cajuns all-time winningest coach. She is presently tied with Wilo Colon, who established the current program record of 136 wins, for the distinction.

As the season's stretch run comes to a close, the Ragin' Cajuns are aiming to remain atop the SBC West as that would secure one of the top two seeds in the SBC Tournament and a bye into the semifinal round of the event.

The USA-Troy matchups mark the first road outings for Louisiana since the Oct. 13-15 Arkansas road trip. The Ragin' Cajuns are 4-1 on the opposition's home court in SBC action this season.

The Ragin' Cajuns seek to build upon a strong offensive performance that was the hallmark of last weekend's sweep. Louisiana hit .310 and scored 39 kills of 87 swings in the sweep of UTA, then hit .250 in outpacing Texas State in the showdown for the SBC West lead.

Stacey Reilly, who last weekend recorded her 1,000th career kill and became the Ragin' Cajuns career leader in the rally scoring era, tops the offense averaging 2.85 kills per set (2.77 per set in SBC play). Freshman Hali Wisnoskie follows closely providing 2.77 kills per set (2.60 per set in SBC play) and the right-side attack of Hanna Rovira has been key to the squad's success in league play.

Louisiana's defense, which ranks Top 3 in the Sun Belt in digs, blocks and opponents' hitting percentage, is keyed by the middle blocking tandem of Dree'Ana Abram (91 blocks) and Nia Antoine (80 blocks) and libero Sydney Davis (481 digs) on the back row.

On the trip through Alabama, setter Jessica Bartczyszyn has an opportunity to reach 1,000 assists for the second straight season while Davis is on pace to eclipse the 500-digs mark for the second straight season

NOTEWORTHY
POSTSEASON CONSIDERATION: Division I women's volleyball welcomes back the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) in 2017, a 64-team tournament bringing the postseason experience to hundreds of athletes and coaches who aren't playing in the NCAA championships. The organization announced on Thursday, Nov. 2 that the Ragin' Cajuns were among the teams contacted to gauge interest in the event.

A VIEW FROM THE TOP: Saturday's five-set win over Texas State returned the Ragin' Cajuns to the top of the Sun Belt West Division. The team holds a 1/2-game lead over both the Bobcats and Arkansas State. The division winner receives one of the top two seeds in the SBC Tourney and a bye into the semifinal round of the event.

TEAM FIRST: The Ragin' Cajuns have utilized a balanced attack on offense in its rise to the top of the Sun Belt. Five different players average at least 1.50 kills per set. The teamwork was on full display during the sweep of UTA and Texas State as four different players totaled at least 20 kills (ranging from 20-25) and averaged at least 2.50 kills per set.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Senior Stacey Reilly collected her 1,000th career kill last Saturday, becoming the second Ragin' Cajun, joining former teammate Chanelle Gardner, to reach the mark in the rally scoring era (2001-present).

LEAVING HER MARK: Also on Saturday, Stacey Reilly upped her career kills total to 1,011 which moved her past Chanelle Gardner (1,000) for the career lead in the rally scoring era.
A WIZ ON OFFENSE: Freshman Hali Wisnoskie's 263 kills are the third-most recorded by a Ragin' Cajuns freshman in the rally scoring era (2001-present). She's one of only 10 freshmen who have reached the plateau in the rally era. Wisnoskie aims to join Amie Goodwin (340 in 2007) as the lone two freshman to amass 300-plus in the era.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE: One of the Ragin' Cajuns' goals is to have one of the Top 3 defenses in the Sun Belt. After 10 weeks of play, the team leads the league in digs (16.80/set), sits third in both blocks (2.31/set) and is tied for third in opponents' hitting percentage (.187).

AIMING FOR NEW HEIGHTS: Louisiana has secured its first winning Sun Belt record since 2002 and reached double digit league wins for the first time since 2000 (record 11 wins that year).

ROADBLOCK: The Ragin' Cajuns season blocks total to currently stands at 229, marking the first season of 200-plus blocks since 2014 (253). The squad has out-blocked, or had equal numbers as the opposition, in each of the past 12 matches.

FRONT ROW FORCE: Sophomore middle blocker Dree'Ana Abram has thrown up at least four blocks on 14 occasions, leading her to a team-high 91 total blocks (18 BS, 73 BA). Abram's average of 0.91 blocks per set is the highest by a Ragin' Cajun since Chanelle Gardner averaged the same amount in 2013. Gardner (106 in 2014) was the last to eclipse 100 blocks in a season.

FAST START, QUICK FINISH: The Ragin' Cajuns success this year can be attributed to a 17-9 record in first set and an 11-5 mark when matches are extended past a third frame. In each of the team's 11 victories prior to the Texas State match, the Ragin' Cajuns were the victor in the first set.

A START FOR THE AGES: Louisiana's 7-0 start in Sun Belt Conference play was both the program's best-ever as a member of the league (1991-present) and overall in program history, topping the previous record of 4-0 set by the 1986 squad.

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.

UP NEXT
Louisiana concludes the 2017 regular season next weekend with rematches on the road against Texas State and UTA. The Ragin' Cajuns will be in San Marcos on Friday, Nov. 10 for a 5:30 p.m. match with the Bobcats, then travel to Arlington for a 1 p.m. meeting with the Mavericks on Sunday, Nov. 12.

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).

#GeauxCajuns

Ragin' Cajuns Start Season's Final Road Trip in Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Chanelle Gardner

Stacey Reilly

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Ragin' Cajuns Start Season's Final Road Trip in Alabama

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Chanelle Gardner

Stacey Reilly

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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