@RaginCajunsVB Set for Home Debut Weekend

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball opens the home portion of its schedule Friday-Saturday, Aug. 31-Sept. 1 hosting the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic at historic Earl K. Long Gym.

The Ragin' Cajuns (2-1) welcome Houston, Mississippi Valley, Nicholls and Sam Houston State for the sixth edition of the event which is held in memory of Sawyer Camillo, a freshman volleyball player for the Ragin' Cajuns, who passed away on Dec. 22, 2012 at her home in Argyle, Texas.

Action begins at 10 a.m. both days. Admission is free for all matches, courtesy of I Love Kick Boxing.

On Friday, Louisiana takes the court at 2 p.m. vs. Mississippi Valley State and 6:30 p.m. vs. Nicholls. The Ragin' Cajuns close out play on Saturday at 12 p.m. vs. Sam Houston State and 4 p.m. vs. Houston.

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

THE MATCHES
Match 4: Louisiana (2-1) vs. Mississippi Valley State (0-4)
Friday, Aug. 31 • 2 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 2-0
Last Meeting: 9/2/17 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-11)
Video | Live Stats

Match 5: Louisiana (2-1) vs. Nicholls (1-3)
Friday, Aug. 31 • 2 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Series: Louisiana leads 57-19
Last Meeting: 9/1/17 at Earl K. Long Gym – Louisiana W, 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 25-21)
Video | Live Stats

Match 6: Louisiana (2-1) vs. Sam Houston State (2-1)
Saturday, Sept. 1 • 12 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Series: SHSU leads 14-3
Last Meeting: 9/12/15 in Houston, Texas (at Rice) – SHSU W, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18)
Video | Live Stats

Match 7: Louisiana (2-1) vs. Houston (4-0)
Saturday, Sept. 1 • 4 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Series: Houston leads 7-1
Last Meeting: 8/26/16 in Houston, Texas (at HBU) – Houston W, 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-19)
Video | Live Stats

2018 SAWYER CAMILLO MEMORIAL CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Friday, August 31, 2018
10:00 a.m.   Sam Houston State vs. Mississippi Valley State
12:00 p.m.   Nicholls vs. Houston
2:00 p.m.   Louisiana vs. Mississippi Valley State
4:00 p.m.     Sam Houston State vs. Houston
6:30 p.m. Louisiana vs. Nicholls

Saturday, September 1, 2018
10:00 a.m.   Houston vs. Mississippi Valley State
12:00 p.m. Louisiana vs. Sam Houston State
2:00 p.m.     Nicholls vs. Mississippi Valley State
4:00 p.m.   Louisiana vs. Houston

ABOUT LOUISIANA
Louisiana returns 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 have a talented group of eight newcomers debuting in the 2018 season, headlined by transfer setter Gemma Cantone (Incarnate Word) and freshmen Kelsey Bennett (5-11, OH, Allen, Texas), Desiree Johnson (5-11, RS, Forney, Texas) and Tia Smith (6-2, MB, Houston, Texas).

2017 REWIND
The Ragin' Cajuns (21-11, 13-3 SBC in 2017) turned in the program's finest season of the Sun Belt Conference era (1991-present). During the 2017 season, the squad raced out to a school-record 7-0 start in league play, posted the first winning conference mark since 2002 and set the school record for conference wins. The reward was the program's highest seed ever (No. 3) in the SBC Tournament.

Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot became Louisiana's all-time winningest coach, increasing her program-standard tally to 140 victories. Hali Wisnoskie became the first Ragin' Cajun to win Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors since 1998 and she represented Louisiana on the AVCA All-Midwest Region team.

SET POINTS

The Ragin' Cajuns opened the 2018 season last weekend at the Tulane I-10 Challenge. It marked the start of the 11th season of Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's tenure.
In wins over Incarnate Word and UTEP, the Ragin' Cajuns hit a combined .276 in claiming six of the seven sets contested.
Hali Wisnoskie provided 4.00 kills per set on a .248 hitting percentage, hitting double figures and claiming match-high honors in kills each match, at the Tulane I-10 Challenge.
With three outings of double digits in kills last weekend, Hali Wisnoskie increased her career tally to 21.
The trio of Dree'Ana Abram (1.40), Nia Antoine (1.10) and Desiree Johnson (1.10) blocked at a rate above one per set opening weekend. Abram was dominant on Saturday, throwing up 12 blocks over seven sets.
As a team, Louisiana averaged 2.85 blocks per set at the Tulane I-10 Challenge – a tally which ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference during opening weekend.
Libero Sydney Davis picked up her 1,500th career dig during last Saturday's match vs. UTEP. She joins Lindsay Brown (1,863), Caitlyn Auxilien (1,784) and Erika Castro (1,589) as the only players to reach the mark in the rally scoring era.
Sydney Davis sits 344 digs away from becoming the career leader in the rally scoring era and 524 digs away from the program's all-time record.
Louisiana is utilizing a 6-2 offense for the first time in the Mazeitis-Fontenot era. Running the offense last week at Tulane was setters Avery Breaux and Milayne Danna.

COACH MAZEITIS-FONTENOT'S THOUGHTS
Looking back at the Tulane I-10 Challenge
"Our blocking came back full force, picking up where we left off last season. We also showed we can generate a lot of points."

On the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic field
"All four teams are completely different. Sam Houston utilizes some interesting things in their offense, as well as Nicholls, which are a little bit unorthodox and we haven't seen yet. We have enough young kids on our team that it could give us pause for a minute. We are preparing for all four opponents the exact same way."

UP NEXT
Louisiana travels to Baton Rouge for a midweek contest at Southern University on Tuesday, Sept. 4. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Clifford Seymour Gym.

The Ragin' Cajuns return to tournament play Friday-Saturday, Sept. 7-8 traveling to Fort Worth, Texas for the TCU Fight in the Fort where they will face Montana State, TCU and SMU.

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 Set for Home Debut Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Caitlyn Auxilien

Kelsey Bennett

Avery Breaux

Gemma Cantone

Milayne Danna

Sydney Davis

Desiree Johnson

Tia Jade Smith

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

@RaginCajunsVB Set for Home Debut Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Caitlyn Auxilien

Kelsey Bennett

Avery Breaux

Gemma Cantone

Milayne Danna

Sydney Davis

Desiree Johnson

Tia Jade Smith

Hali Wisnoskie

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