Cajuns and Warhawks Set for Home-and-Home Weekend

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Resumes Sun Belt Play With Home-and-Home Against ULM
Friday, Oct. 6, 2017 at ULM | 6:30 p.m. | Monroe, La.
Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 vs. ULM | 2 p.m. | Earl K. Long Gym

Match 19: Louisiana (11-7, 4-0 Sun Belt) at ULM (4-17, 0-4 Sun Belt)
Friday, Oct. 6 • 6:30 p.m. • Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,000) • Monroe, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 46-20
Last Meeting in Monroe: 11/8/16 – Louisiana W, 3-2 (25-21, 27-25, 20-25, 17-25, 15-7)
Live Stats | Live Video

Match 20: Louisiana (11-7, 4-0 Sun Belt) vs. ULM (4-17, 0-4 Sun Belt)
Sunday, Oct. 8 • 2 p.m. • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 46-20
Last Meeting at EKL: 10/8/16 – Louisiana W, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 15-13)
Live Stats | Live Video (FREE)

Rosters: Louisiana | ULM
Schedules: Louisiana | ULM
Season Stats: Louisiana | ULM
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @RaginCajunsVB
Opponent's Twitter: @ULM_VB

MATCH PROMOTIONS
Sunday is "Daddy-Daughter Day" at Earl K. Long Gym. The first 150 fans to arrive will receive a 20 percent off coupon from the Ragin' Cajuns Store.

There will be a photo area in the lobby, at the intermission between the second and third set selected participants will participate in a special daddy-daughter contest, and the playing court will be open after the conclusion of the match for dads and daughters to have fun.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team concludes a week-long stretch of matches with Louisiana schools by facing ULM in a Sun Belt Conference home-and-home weekend.

The Ragin' Cajuns (11-7, 4-0 Sun Belt) and Warhawks (4-17, 0-4 Sun Belt) square off in Monroe at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Friday in a 6:30 p.m. match, then wrap up the weekend twinbill on Sunday at 2 p.m. inside Earl K. Long Gym.

Louisiana carries a six-match winning streak, overall, into the weekend. The Ragin' Cajuns have come away victorious each time out since defeating Eastern Michigan in the Chicago State Invitational finale back on Sept. 15.

The 4-0 start to conference play is the program's best-ever start as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (1991-present). It also ties the overall program record set by the 1986 team in the Southland Conference.

Recent matchups between the Ragin' Cajuns and Warhawks have been battles in every sense of the word. The two programs played to five sets each of the previous five matchups (dates back to Nov. 2014).

Stacey Reilly (2.90 kills/set) and Hali Wisnoskie (2.86 kills/set) have paced Louisiana's offense throughout the season. Reilly enters the weekend six kills shy of reaching 200 in a season for the third time in her career, while Wisnsoskie is 20 shy of becoming the first freshman to reach 200 since Reilly in 2014.

Since Sun Belt play began, it's been the Ragin' Cajuns middle blocking tandem of Nia Antoine and Dree'Ana Abram that has driven the offense. Antoine is hitting .392 and Abram .383 through the first four league matches thus far.

Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn has averaged 10-plus assists per set each of the first two weekends of SBC play while directing the Ragin' Cajuns to a .231 team hitting percentage. As a team, Louisiana has hit above .200 each SBC outing.

Reigning Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week Sydney Davis is averaging 4.78 digs per set and is coming off a monstrous night on Tuesday vs. Southeastern Louisiana in which she scooped 8.67 digs per set. This season, Davis is aided by the freshman duo of Lexi Hebert (2.68 digs/set) and Avery Breaux (2.31 digs/set) in tightening the Cajuns back-row defense.

NOTEWORTHY
HARD WORK PAYS OFF: Each of the last five (5) weeks the Ragin' Cajuns have had at least one representative on the list of weekly player of the week winners chosen by the Sun Belt's head coaches. The most recent honoree was setter Sydney Davis who was named SBC Defensive Player of the Week for matches played Sept. 25-Oct. 1, her second time this season receiving the award (Sept. 18).

LAST LEG TO 1,000: Senior Stacey Reilly's career kills total now stands at 923, continuing her climb toward the 1,000 mark. Already with 1,000 career digs, she's seeking to become the first Cajun with a 1,000-1,000 career since Priscilla Lima (1999-02).

FINE-TUNED HITTING: The Ragin' Cajuns have hit above .200 in each match of the current six-match winning streak. The team ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference with a .221 season hitting percentage.

SOUND COMPANY: Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn upped her career assists total to 2,452 following the Southeastern Louisiana match, leaving her 48 shy of becoming the fourth setter in the rally era to reach 2,500 (others include Mandi Gavin, Kendra Hall and Andrea Hole).

HEY THERE, HEBERT: Freshman Lexi Hebert had her strongest showing to date on the back row last weekend. She tied her season-high digs total with 16 vs. ASU, then followed up with a new season-high of 17 vs. Little Rock. She scooped double digits a third straight match by notching 13 on Tuesday vs. Southeastern Louisiana.

RETURNING TO FORM: As a team, the Ragin' Cajuns picked up 23 blocks (11 vs. Arkansas State, 12 vs. Little Rock) last weekend. The 2.56 average per set marked the highest weekend total since averaging 3.07 per set during the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic (Sept. 1-2).

WINNING BOTH WAYS: Sun Belt-opening weekend, the Ragin' Cajuns displayed their offensive prowess by averaging 14.71 kills per set in sweeping the Georgia trip. Last weekend, it was the defense which was key – specifically blocking where the team held a combined 23-13 edge over Arkansas State and Little Rock.

RED-HOT START: Individually, the Ragin' Cajuns middle blockers have been swinging a hot arm at the onset of Sun Belt play. Dree'Ana Abram has hit above .300 in all four league matches thus far. Nia Antoine's .500 percentage vs. Little Rock marked the second time at or above the mark (.536 at GS).'

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE: One of the Ragin' Cajuns' goals is to have one of the Top 3 defenses in the Sun Belt. Currently, the team leads the league in digs (17.04/set) and sits fourth in blocks (2.24/set) and opponents' hitting percentage (.197).

CLOSING ON RECORD: Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot increased her wins total as Ragin' Cajuns head coach to 130 following last weekend's home sweep of Arkansas State and Little Rock plus the midweek win over Southeastern Louisiana. She's now six (6) wins shy of tying Wilo Colon's program-record 136 victories.

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.

VETERAN ATMOSPHERE: After spending the past two seasons nurturing and developing a young squad, head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot has experience on her side in 2017. The Ragin' Cajuns returned all but one starter and 13 players from last season. The program's current roster features nine upperclassmen.

COACH MAZEITIS-FONTENOT'S THOUGHTS
On the Wright State match being key to recent win streak: "Wright State played extremely clean. They didn't do everything perfect but they were clean all the time. It was impressive to watch them play. I told our team that will be us in three weeks. That gave them an understanding. Since then, we made a conscious effort of what we are going to look like a week from now."

On team's defense making an impact: "We are better defensively than we have been since I have been here (since 2008). This is one of my better defense teams. We have girls that are quick. We are turning into an intelligent team which makes us block better. If you block better then you get more digs. I know there is room for even more improvement on this team and that is really exciting."

UP NEXT
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to Arkansas the weekend of Oct. 13-15 for Sun Belt Conference rematches with Little Rock and Arkansas State.

Louisiana will be in Little Rock on Friday, Oct. 13 for a 6:30 p.m. match with the Trojans at the Jack Stephens Center, then travel to Jonesboro to meet the Red Wolves at Noon on Sunday, Oct. 15 inside the Convocation Center.

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 and Warhawks Set for Home-and-Home Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Avery Breaux

Sydney Davis

Mandi Gavin

Lexi Hebert

Andrea Hole

Stacey Reilly

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Cajuns and Warhawks Set for Home-and-Home Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Avery Breaux

Sydney Davis

Mandi Gavin

Lexi Hebert

Andrea Hole

Stacey Reilly

Hali Wisnoskie

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