Louisiana Volleyball Ushers in 2019 Season, Begins Homestand

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball officially begins the 2019 season and opens a seven-match homestand Friday-Saturday, Aug. 30-31 hosting The DoubleTree Classic at Earl K. Long Gym.

The Ragin' Cajuns, starting the 12th season under the guidance of head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot, welcome Incarnate Word, Tulane and UTEP to E.K. Long Gym for the season-opening event.

Admission is free for all tournament matches and Louisiana Athletics' new fan-friendly concession prices officially debut.

On Friday, Louisiana faces Incarnate Word at 1:30 p.m. and UTEP at 6:30 p.m. The season-opening weekend concludes with a matchup against Tulane at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The UIW match will air live both on Cox Sports Television and ESPN+, marking the first-ever TV production of a match at E.K. Long Gym. Louisiana's remaining matches in the tournament will be streamed at RaginCajuns.com/Watch.

Fans can track the progress of The DoubleTree Classic through the tournament central page (RaginCajuns.com/DoubleTreeClassic) and with updates posted on the Louisiana Volleyball Twitter account (@RaginCajunsVB).

THE MATCHES
Match 1: Louisiana (0-0) vs. Incarnate Word (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 30 • 1:30 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Television: Cox Sports TV and ESPN+
Series: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: 8/24/18 in New Orleans (at Tulane) – Louisiana W, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21)
ESPN+ | Live Stats

Match 2: Louisiana (0-0) vs. UTEP (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 30 • 6:30 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Stream: RaginCajuns.com/Watch
Series: Louisiana leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 8/25/18 in New Orleans (at Tulane) – Louisiana W, 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-16)
Video | Live Stats

Match 3: Louisiana (0-0) vs. Tulane (0-0)
Saturday, Aug. 31 • 12:30 p.m. (CDT) • Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) • Lafayette, La.
Stream: RaginCajuns.com/Watch
Series: Tulane leads 41-8
Last Meeting: 8/25/18 in New Orleans – Tulane W, 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-15)
Video | Live Stats

THE DOUBLETREE CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Friday, August 30, 2019
11:00am      UTEP vs. Tulane
1:30pm      Louisiana vs. Incarnate Word
4:00pm       Tulane vs. Incarnate Word
6:30pm      Louisiana vs. UTEP

Saturday, August 31, 2019
10:00am      UTEP vs. Incarnate Word
12:30pm    Louisiana vs. Tulane

ABOUT LOUISIANA
Highlighting the list of returners is junior outside hitter Hali Wisnoskie, a two-time All-Sun Belt selection and preseason all-conference choice for 2019, who owns a pair of 300-plus kills seasons and senior middle blocker Dree'Ana Abram who has dominated at the net with back-to-back seasons of 90-plus blocks.

Other returning starters include right side hitter Desiree Johnson who appeared in every match and set during her rookie campaign and setters Avery Breaux and Milayne Danna who directed the 6-2 offense in 2018.

Tia Jade Smith, who showed she can be a force in the middle during a key two-week stretch in the second half of Sun Belt play last season, is expected to make an impact.

The Ragin' Cajuns welcome a pair of newcomers from the junior college ranks in standout libero Hannah Ramirez from Panola College along with Lafayette native Elise Baranco who returns home after one season at Pratt (Kan.) Community College.

Freshmen team members include Dallas Skyline Juniors standouts Kara Barnes and Celeste Darling and Parker, Colo., product Claire Turner.

SET POINTS

The Ragin' Cajuns are beginning the 44th season in program history.
The season-opening, seven-match homestand keeps Louisiana at the friendly confines of Earl K. Long Gym through Tuesday, Sept. 10 when the stretch concludes with a midweek match vs. Southern Miss.
Louisiana, Incarnate Word, Tulane and UTEP are in the third year of a four-year agreement in which each institution hosts a season-opening tournament. A year ago, the four programs met in the Tulane I-10 Challenge in New Orleans. Next year's tournament will be held at UTEP.
Dree'Ana Abram, Louisiana's top returning middle blocker, has surpassed 200 kills and 90 blocks each of the past two seasons.
Hali Wisnoskie is coming off a second straight 300-plus kills campaign, netting 331 kills on a career-best 2.96 per set average last season.
Two-time All-Sun Belt performer Hali Wisnoskie aims for a third straight season of 300-plus kills. The only Ragin' Cajun to surpass 300 kills in three straight seasons is the all-time leader, Nia Kiggundu ('93-96).
Avery Breaux made her collegiate debut at the setter position in 2018, accumulating a team-high 597 assists (5.33 per set). She is expected to direct the offense once again in 2019.
With the departure of rally scoring era career digs leader Sydney Davis, the Ragin' Cajuns are set to debut a new libero in 2019. Milayne Danna and Hannah Ramirez are the top two candidates to fill the position.
Making their debut on the sideline will be Louisiana's two new assistant coaches: Bruno Chateau (native of France, pro player) and Tim Vanderwerff (spent past two seasons at Big East power Marquette).

UP NEXT
Louisiana continues its season-opening, seven-match homestand Friday-Saturday, Sept. 6-7 hosting the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic at Earl K. Long Gym.

The Ragin' Cajuns welcome Eastern Michigan, Florida A&M and McNeese for the seventh annual edition of the event honoring the former Louisiana Volleyball student-athlete. A complete tournament schedule can be found at RaginCajuns.com/SawyerCamilloClassic.

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 -

Louisiana Volleyball Ushers in 2019 Season, Begins Homestand

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Elise Baranco

Kara Barnes

Avery Breaux

Milayne Danna

Celeste Darling

Sydney Davis

Desiree Johnson

Hannah Ramirez

Tia Jade Smith

Claire Turner

Hali Wisnoskie

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Louisiana Volleyball Ushers in 2019 Season, Begins Homestand

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Elise Baranco

Kara Barnes

Avery Breaux

Milayne Danna

Celeste Darling

Sydney Davis

Desiree Johnson

Hannah Ramirez

Tia Jade Smith

Claire Turner

Hali Wisnoskie

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