Volleyball Starts Final Tournament Stretch in Denton

DENTON, Texas – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball returns to the road and starts the final stretch of pre-conference tournaments Friday-Saturday, Sept. 9-10 participating in the North Texas Invitational at the Mean Green Volleyball Center.

Including the North Texas Invitational, Louisiana (1-7) has two tournaments left on its schedule before Sun Belt Conference action begins Friday, Sept. 23 at Earl K. Long Gym vs. Georgia State. Next week the squad travels to Birmingham, Ala., for the Fight Like Hal Memorial hosted by UAB.

In Denton, the Ragin' Cajuns will face host-North Texas (2-6) at 12:30 p.m. and UNCW (5-1) at 5 p.m. on Friday, then have an early morning bout with Indiana State (4-2) at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The first two weeks of the season for the Ragin' Cajuns have featured missed opportunities. The squad has begun matches on a winning note posting a 7-1 record in the first set, but an opposite 1-7 mark in the third set has allowed opposing teams to steal momentum.

The offensive momentum built in the recent five-match homestand – the Ragin' Cajuns hit .228 and averaged 12.29 kills per set – will be key as Indiana State and UNCW are both hitting above .200 and North Texas sports a .180 hitting percentage.

Stacey Reilly (3.59 kills per set) and Chanelle Gardner (.427 hitting percentage) continue to be the lead catalysts for the Ragin' Cajuns offense which has a season hitting percentage of .200 and a kills average of 12.18 per set.

Reilly has reached double digits in kills each match and has an active streak of five straight double-doubles. Gardner has hit above .300 each match and sizzled during the recent homestand with a .444 percentage (59 K, 7 E, 117 TA).

As of Wednesday, setter Jessica Bartczyszyn was leading the NCAA ranks in total assists with 344. The redshirt junior has handed out 40-plus assists six times through eight matches and directed the Ragin' Cajuns offense to 50-plus kills five times.

Milestone Moments
> Junior outside hitter Stacey Reilly stands 36 kills shy of landing her 500th career kill.
> Senior middle blocker Chanelle Gardner is 23 kills shy of reaching the Top 5 list in kills for the rally scoring era (2001-present). Presently, Kim Rodgers (2003-06) sits in fifth place on the list with 855 kills.
> Redshirt junior setter Jessica Bartczyszyn needs 15 assists to record her 1,000th career assist.
> Sophomore libero Sydney Davis is five digs shy of her 500th career dig.
> Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot is one win shy of a second place tie with Sherry LeBas and two wins from sole possession of second place on the program's all-time victories list. Currently in her ninth season with the Ragin' Cajuns, Mazeitis-Fontenot has collected 110 victories and trails only LeBas (111) and Wilo Colon (136) on the coaching ledger.

Coach Mazeitis-Fontenot's Thoughts:
"We're looking for progress in our mental toughness. We need to finish stronger than we start. We obviously start strong, so finishing stronger than we start seems to be a tall order. That's our goal this weekend: finish stronger than we start.

I think the results will come…the talent is there. Now, we've got to finish. When a team pushes us, we've got to be able to push back. Mentally we need to breakthrough that.

We've had some great practices. I'm looking forward to a good weekend."

Series Notables
North Texas: Former Sun Belt Conference rivals meet for the first time since the 2012 season…Over the final four seasons as SBC foes (2009-12), the Ragin' Cajuns and Mean Green played a five-set battle in five of eight meetings.

UNCW: First-ever meeting between the Ragin' Cajuns and Seahawks.

Indiana State: Ragin' Cajuns won the lone prior meeting, defeating the Sycamores in five sets on Aug. 31, 1990 in a match played in Baton Rouge.

Up Next
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball concludes play in pre-conference tournaments by traveling to Birmingham, Ala., for the Fight Like Hal Memorial hosted by UAB. The Ragin' Cajuns are scheduled to compete in the event Thursday-Friday, Sept. 15-16.

Louisiana starts the Fight Like Hal Memorial facing UAB on Thursday at 7 p.m., then closes out tournament play on Friday against Memphis (12:30 p.m.) and UT Martin (4:30 p.m.).

#GeauxCajuns

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Stacey Reilly