Ragin' Cajuns Wrap Up Regular Season Play in Texas

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Wraps Up Regular Season in Texas
Friday, Nov. 10, 2017 at Texas State | 5:30 p.m. | San Marcos, Texas
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017 at UTA | 1 p.m. | Arlington, Texas

Match 29: Louisiana (19-9, 12-2 Sun Belt) at Texas State (21-8, 12-2 Sun Belt)
Friday, Nov. 10 • 5:30 p.m. • Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas
Series: Texas State leads 12-1
Last Meeting: 10/28/17 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-2 (25-27, 25-23, 25-12, 21-25, 15-8)
Live Stats | Live Video

Match 30: Louisiana (19-9, 12-2 Sun Belt) at UTA (12-15, 6-8 Sun Belt)
Sunday, Nov. 12 • 1 p.m. • College Park Center (7,000) • Arlington, Texas
Series: UTA leads 15-2
Last Meeting: 10/26/2017 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-18)
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN3)

Rosters: Louisiana | Texas State | UTA
Schedules: Louisiana | Texas State | UTA
Season Stats: Louisiana | Texas State | UTA
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @RaginCajunsVB
Opponents' Twitter: @TexasStateVball | @UTAVolleyball

SETTING THE SCENE
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team concludes regular season play this weekend in Texas with Sun Belt rematches against Texas State and UTA.

Louisiana will be in San Marcos on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. match with the Bobcats, then in Arlington on Sunday to face the Mavericks in a 1 p.m. matinee.

On Friday, Louisiana (19-9, 12-2 Sun Belt) and Texas State (21-8, 12-2 Sun Belt) will play for the Sun Belt West Division title. The Ragin' Cajuns, who defeated the Bobcats in five sets at Earl K. Long Gym two weeks ago, would clinch the crown with a win by securing the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Also up for grabs on Friday in San Marcos is a double bye into the semifinals of the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament, given to the league's two division winners.

The Ragin' Cajuns enter the season's final road trip on a four-match win streak which began with a sweep of UTA back on Oct. 26 at E.K. Long Gym.

Louisiana is 6-1 on the opposition's home court this season in SBC action. Last weekend, the squad claimed four-set triumphs at South Alabama and Troy utilizing a strong defensive effort that produced 28 blocks over the two matches.

A well-balanced offense has served the Ragin' Cajuns well throughout the season and helped offset times when a player or two doesn't reach their accustomed production. All five starting attackers are averaging at least 1.85 kills per set in SBC play: Hali Wisnoskie (2.72), Stacey Reilly (2.57), Dree'Ana Abram (2.30), Nia Antoine (2.12) and Hanna Rovira (1.85).

Defense has been a solid cornerstone for the Ragin' Cajuns, particularly in blocking where the team ranks second in league play in blocks per set (2.54). Abram, the team leader with 60 in conference play and 106 overall, threw up 15 blocks (8 BS, 7 BA) on last week's USA-Troy trip.

Louisiana seeks to put the exclamation point – and add additional accolades – on a record-breaking regular season that included the best conference start in program history, coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot becoming the program's all-time winningest coach and a program-record for Sun Belt victories.

NOTEWORTHY
20-20 VISION: The Ragin' Cajuns are within one win of reaching 20 wins for the second time in the past four seasons. Back in 2014, led by the now-seniors who were freshmen, Louisiana finished 20-13 for the first 20-win season since 1990.

TOP ROOKIE: Hali Wisnoskie claimed Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Week honors for the third time after the league chose her as the recipient for matches played Oct. 30-Nov. 5. The Ragin' Cajuns rookie now leads all Sun Belt freshmen in number of times being honored as freshman of the week, breaking a tie with Appalachian State's Kara Spicer and Arkansas State's Timber Terrell.

MOMENT OF A LIFETIME: On Friday in San Marcos the Cajuns will play for the Sun Belt West Division title. With a win, they'd lock up the head-to-head tiebreaker with Texas State. Louisiana seeks its first-ever championship (division or overall) as a member of the Sun Belt and in program history.

TOP OF THE CHARTS: Last Friday's win over South Alabama made Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot the Ragin' Cajuns' all-time winningest coach. She picked up her 137th win as Ragin' Cajuns head coach, surpassing the previous record of 136 set by Wilo Colon from 1986-90.

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 1.85 kills per set. The team effort also shows in digs as five have scooped 100-plus and in blocks as six have at least 20 in SBC action.

A RECORD-BREAKING YEAR: The 2017 season will go down as the finest in Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball history. The squad start Sun Belt play with a record 7-0 mark, posted the first winning conference mark since 2002 and has set the school record for SBC wins (previous was 11 in 2000).

DRIVE 'EM BACK DREE: Dree'Ana Abram has posted the first 100-plus blocks season by a Ragin' Cajun since 2014 (current total is 106). She is one of only four players averaging over 1.00 blocks/ set in Sun Belt Conference play and one of only six the entire season.

RELIABLE ROVIRA: Key to the Cajuns success in SBC play has been the performance of Hanna Rovira at the right side hitter's slot. She has had an impact in both offensively (hitting .252) and defensively (32 total blocks) and has hit at or above .200 in nine of 14 SBC matches.

THE CHOSEN FEW: 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 28 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 1,022 kills and 1,179 digs.

A WIZ ON OFFENSE: Freshman Hali Wisnoskie's 285 kills are the second-most recorded by a Ragin' Cajuns freshman in the rally scoring era (2001-present). She 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 entering the season was to have one of the Top 3 defenses in the Sun Belt. After 11 weeks of play, the team leads the league in digs (16.93/set), sits second in blocks (2.40/set) and is tied for third in opponents' hitting percentage (.187).

FAST START, QUICK FINISH: The Ragin' Cajuns success this year can be attributed to an 18-10 record in first set and a 13-5 mark when matches are extended past a third frame. In each of the team's 11 victories prior to the last meeting with Texas State (Oct. 28), the Ragin' Cajuns were the victor in the first set.

ROADBLOCK: The Ragin' Cajuns season blocks total to currently stands at 257, 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 14 matches.

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.

COACH MAZEITIS-FONTENOT'S THOUGHTS
On the team's current mindset: "They are so determined and confident in who they are right now. I can hear them say in the huddle: 'Let's get to work right now. Here's what we have to do'."

UP NEXT
Next week Louisiana travels to Jonesboro, Ark., for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at First National Bank Arena on the Arkansas State campus. The Ragin' Cajuns seeding for the event, which is scheduled for Nov. 16-19, will be determined following the conclusion of this weekend's action.

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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Ragin' Cajuns Wrap Up Regular Season Play in Texas

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Ragin' Cajuns Wrap Up Regular Season Play in Texas

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira

Hali Wisnoskie

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