University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Sunday, August 31
Lafayette
1:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
3-0
3
vs
2
New Orleans
1-2
1
2
3
4
5
F
New Orleans
19
26
21
25
12
2
Louisiana
25
24
25
19
15
3
Louisiana Completes Sweep of Opening Weekend Action
8/31/2025 5:27:00 PM | Volleyball
Ragin’ Cajuns fend off New Orleans for a 3-0 run in the 2025 Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic
LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team came away victorious in a spirited tug-of-war match with New Orleans on Sunday, August 31 at E.K. Long Gym, outlasting the visiting Privateers to claim a 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 19-25, 15-12) that completed a weekend sweep of the 2025 Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic.
Louisiana (3-0) recorded its first opening weekend tournament sweep since the 2014 Adidas Rice Invitational and collected its first 3-0 start since Kristi Gray's inaugural season in 2021.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Privateers (1-2) traded jabs through 34 tie scores and 13 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points at any point the entire match and the largest margin in Set 5 was three points.
UL was able to counter UNO's defense, which kept the visitors in the contest, by preventing numerous block attempts from hitting the floor. The result was the ball staying alive for the Cajuns to have 26 more attack attempts and outscore the Privateers 67-48 in kills.
Each side took a different route for a split after the first two sets.
Louisiana erased a 16-14 deficit in Set 1 with a 7-0 run charged by five kills and a pair of Kennedy Gustafson aces, the first of which broke a 16-all tie. UNO began Set 2 with a 5-1 lead, grew the advantage to 11-5, never trailed and after the Cajuns forged a 24-all tie had Courtney Roundtree score a kill which led to set point.
The Ragin' Cajuns overcame the Privateers' defensive pressure in the third set, a commanding 16-4 edge in kills offsetting the nine attack errors. There were 13 ties until Louisiana fired off three kills without error down the stretch after the last stalemate at 20-all.
The Privateers' 14 kills in Set 4 matched its highest output in the contest and it was a series of four straight including a pair from Roundtree that expanded the advantage to 20-14 setting the stage for the winner-take-all frame.
Cailin Demps single-handedly took charge of Set 5 by delivering six kills – none bigger than the final three scores, starting at 10-9, which prevented the Privateers from garnering a tie in the latter stages. Her final kill returned service to the Cajuns after a service error trimmed the lead to 13-12, then Grace Sweeney powered down a kill for the match-clinching point.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Demps finished with her weekend-high of 18 kills, tying UNO's Roundtree for the match lead. She was joined by teammates Marlee Ervin (11) and Harley Krause (10) in reaching double digits in kills.
Freshman Lindsey Henry topped the frontline defensive efforts as she had a hand in all four of the Cajuns' blocks.
In the back row, libero Kennedy Gustafson surpassed 20 digs the second straight day with her 22 digs leading all players in the match. Sweeney joined her in double figure with her weekend-high 17 digs.
Gustafson served up three of Louisiana's five aces as the squad reached the mark for the third straight day.
Junior transfer setters Nene Hawkins and Ryleigh Garis combined for 55 of the team's 63 assists. Hawkins took team-high honors for the first time with her season-high 33 assists to go with eight digs.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to Nacogdoches, Texas for a three-day tournament from Thursday-Saturday, September 4-6 at Shelton Gym on the Stephen F. Austin campus.
Louisiana meets host-SFA on Thursday (Sept. 4) at 5:30 p.m., Sam Houston on Friday (Sept. 5) at 7:00 p.m. and Abilene Christian on Saturday (Sept. 6) at 11:00 a.m. while in Nacogdoches.
The tournament at SFA starts a five-match road trip. The Ragin' Cajuns next home matches at E.K. Long Gym are scheduled for September 19-20 in the Ragin' Cajuns Classic.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsVB), Facebook (/RaginCajunsVB) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsVB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Volleyball.
Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
Louisiana (3-0) recorded its first opening weekend tournament sweep since the 2014 Adidas Rice Invitational and collected its first 3-0 start since Kristi Gray's inaugural season in 2021.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Privateers (1-2) traded jabs through 34 tie scores and 13 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points at any point the entire match and the largest margin in Set 5 was three points.
UL was able to counter UNO's defense, which kept the visitors in the contest, by preventing numerous block attempts from hitting the floor. The result was the ball staying alive for the Cajuns to have 26 more attack attempts and outscore the Privateers 67-48 in kills.
Each side took a different route for a split after the first two sets.
Louisiana erased a 16-14 deficit in Set 1 with a 7-0 run charged by five kills and a pair of Kennedy Gustafson aces, the first of which broke a 16-all tie. UNO began Set 2 with a 5-1 lead, grew the advantage to 11-5, never trailed and after the Cajuns forged a 24-all tie had Courtney Roundtree score a kill which led to set point.
The Ragin' Cajuns overcame the Privateers' defensive pressure in the third set, a commanding 16-4 edge in kills offsetting the nine attack errors. There were 13 ties until Louisiana fired off three kills without error down the stretch after the last stalemate at 20-all.
The Privateers' 14 kills in Set 4 matched its highest output in the contest and it was a series of four straight including a pair from Roundtree that expanded the advantage to 20-14 setting the stage for the winner-take-all frame.
Cailin Demps single-handedly took charge of Set 5 by delivering six kills – none bigger than the final three scores, starting at 10-9, which prevented the Privateers from garnering a tie in the latter stages. Her final kill returned service to the Cajuns after a service error trimmed the lead to 13-12, then Grace Sweeney powered down a kill for the match-clinching point.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Demps finished with her weekend-high of 18 kills, tying UNO's Roundtree for the match lead. She was joined by teammates Marlee Ervin (11) and Harley Krause (10) in reaching double digits in kills.
Freshman Lindsey Henry topped the frontline defensive efforts as she had a hand in all four of the Cajuns' blocks.
In the back row, libero Kennedy Gustafson surpassed 20 digs the second straight day with her 22 digs leading all players in the match. Sweeney joined her in double figure with her weekend-high 17 digs.
Gustafson served up three of Louisiana's five aces as the squad reached the mark for the third straight day.
Junior transfer setters Nene Hawkins and Ryleigh Garis combined for 55 of the team's 63 assists. Hawkins took team-high honors for the first time with her season-high 33 assists to go with eight digs.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to Nacogdoches, Texas for a three-day tournament from Thursday-Saturday, September 4-6 at Shelton Gym on the Stephen F. Austin campus.
Louisiana meets host-SFA on Thursday (Sept. 4) at 5:30 p.m., Sam Houston on Friday (Sept. 5) at 7:00 p.m. and Abilene Christian on Saturday (Sept. 6) at 11:00 a.m. while in Nacogdoches.
The tournament at SFA starts a five-match road trip. The Ragin' Cajuns next home matches at E.K. Long Gym are scheduled for September 19-20 in the Ragin' Cajuns Classic.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsVB), Facebook (/RaginCajunsVB) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsVB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Volleyball.
Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
- www.RaginCajuns.com -
Team Stats
UNO
UL
Kills
48
67
Errors
23
27
Attempts
155
181
Hitting %
.161
.221
Points
57.0
76.0
Assists
44
63
Aces
5
5
Blocks
4.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
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