@RaginCajunsVB Begins November With Weekend Set Against ULM

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball is set for a home-and-home weekend with in-state Sun Belt Conference foe ULM beginning on Friday at Earl K. Long Gym.

The Ragin' Cajuns (13-13, 5-7 Sun Belt) and Warhawks face off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at E.K. Long Gym, then wrap up the weekend set at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe.

Louisiana is in a critical stretch in the race for one of the four spots from the Sun Belt West Division in the league's upcoming postseason tournament in Atlanta (Nov. 15-18). The squad sits two games back in the loss column of UT Arlington, Little Rock and Arkansas State with four matches remaining.

Friday's match with ULM (10-16, 2-10 Sun Belt) starts a season-ending stretch in which the Ragin' Cajuns play three of the final four matches at E.K. Long Gym, capped off by meetings next weekend with Little Rock and Arkansas State.

The Ragin' Cajuns have won the past five matchups with the Warhawks and have swept the season series the past two years.

Louisiana has won its past three matches at home, winning nine of the 10 sets contested, and is coming off a successful road weekend which featured a near-miss of a weekend sweep of Texas State and UTA.

Fans can follow all of the action by accessing the live stats and live video links at RaginCajuns.com/VBSchedule and with updates posted on the team's Twitter account (@RaginCajunsVB).

THE MATCHES
Match 27: Louisiana (13-13, 5-7 Sun Belt) vs. ULM (10-16, 2-10 Sun Belt)
Friday, Nov. 2 • 6:30 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 48-20
Last Meeting at E.K. Long: 10/8/2017 – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-13)
Live Video (FREE) | Live Stats

Match 28: Louisiana (13-13, 5-7 Sun Belt) vs. ULM (10-16, 2-10 Sun Belt)
Sunday, Nov. 4 • 2 p.m. (CDT) • Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,000) • Monroe, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 48-20
Last Meeting in Monroe: 10/6/2017 – Louisiana W, 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-13, 25-20)
Live Video (FREE) | Live Stats

PROMOTIONS
Friday – Volloween

Halloween costume contest
Trick or Treat candy

ABOUT LOUISIANA
Louisiana returned five starters from the 2017 season highlighted by three returning All-Sun Belt Conference performers in middle blocker Dree'Ana Abram, libero Sydney Davis and 2017 SBC Freshman of the Year Hali Wisnoskie.

The Ragin' Cajuns added a talented group of eight newcomers headlined by freshmen Kelsey Bennett (5-11, OH, Allen, Texas) and Desiree Johnson (5-11, RS, Forney, Texas) who have been inserted into the rotation. Louisiana is utilizing a 6-2 offense for the first time in the Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot era with setters Avery Breaux and Milayne Danna directing the offense.

SET POINTS

Louisiana is two wins shy of recording the 700th all-time win in program history.
The Ragin' Cajuns are off to a 3-1 start in the second half of Sun Belt Conference play.
Over the past four matches, the Ragin' Cajuns defense has limited foes to a .169 hitting percentage. During the stretch, Texas State's .200 percentage has been the highest mark.
Libero Sydney Davis owns 100 career matches of double-digit digs and presently ranks 13th among active Division I players in career digs with 1,927.
Sydney Davis, the rally scoring era career digs leader, needs 73 digs to become only the second individual (Nia Kiggundu – 2,043 digs) in program history to amass 2,000 career digs.
Senior Nia Antoine is approaching the rally scoring era career Top 10 list for kills. She is 62 kills shy of becoming just the 10th individual to reach 800 kills in the rally era.
With 276 career total blocks, Nia Antoine presently sits in fifth place on the rally scoring era career list. She's 24 blocks shy of the 300-mark, reached in the rally era by only Kim Rodgers and Chanelle Gardner.
Hali Wisnoskie is 15 kills shy of posting a second consecutive 300-kill season. A year ago, she produced 332 kills which are the second-most by a Ragin' Cajuns freshman in the rally era.
Senior Hanna Rovira has posted her first season of 200-plus kills (presently at 234) and is averaging a career-best 2.39 kills per set. She's also recorded a career-high 166 digs (1.69/set).
Both Dree'Ana Abram (83 blocks) and Nia Antoine (82 blocks) are approaching a second consecutive season of 100 blocks.
Freshman Tia Smith, who was inserted into the rotation and made her Sun Belt debut two weeks ago during the Georgia homestand, has made an immediate impact. She has led the team in blocks with 17 (1.00/set) and contributed 1.29 kills per set (22 total).
Freshman Desiree Johnson has scored at least five kills in all but four matches (165 kills total) and ranks third on the team with 59 blocks (8 BS, 51 BA).
In Sun Belt Conference play, setter Avery Breaux has turned in five double-doubles while her 6-2 system partner Milayne Danna has turned in three double-doubles of her own, the most recent coming in both outings of last week's Texas road trip.
Last Saturday's five-set win at UT Arlington gave the Ragin' Cajuns a season sweep of the Mavericks. It also secured the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker, a factor which could come into play when determining qualifying for the Sun Belt Tournament.

COACH MAZEITIS-FONTENOT'S THOUGHTS
Looking back on last week's Texas trip
"To be able to come out of that weekend 1-1 and to know that we were a whisper away from 2-0 was exhilarating and heartbreaking at the same time.

We're hoping to continue to take care of what is in front of us so that we can advance to Atlanta for the postseason (SBC Tournament)."

On the importance of the weekend
"Everything is crucial at this point no matter what. ULM had a good weekend two weekends ago…they defeated both Georgia's. Georgia State just beat Little Rock who was No. 2 on our side. It's a topsy-turvy thing going on in our conference right now. It is very important for us to take care of business this week against ULM for sure."

On the progress of setters Avery Breaux and Milayne Danna
"Both setters are keys to what we do. They both listen really well and they give everything they can to their team. Defensively, those two both had double-doubles last weekend in assists and digs."

UP NEXT
Louisiana concludes the regular season at Earl K. Long Gym the weekend of Nov. 9-11. The Ragin' Cajuns will face Little Rock on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and host Arkansas State on Sunday at Noon.

Former Ragin' Cajuns are invited back for Alumni Weekend which features an alumni recognition during Friday's match, the Louisiana Football game on Saturday and Senior Day at E.K. Long Gym on Sunday.

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.

- www.RaginCajuns.com -

@RaginCajunsVB Begins November With Weekend Set Against ULM

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Kelsey Bennett

Avery Breaux

Milayne Danna

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Desiree Johnson

Hanna Rovira

Tia Jade Smith

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

@RaginCajunsVB Begins November With Weekend Set Against ULM

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Kelsey Bennett

Avery Breaux

Milayne Danna

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Desiree Johnson

Hanna Rovira

Tia Jade Smith

Hali Wisnoskie

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