University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Thursday, September 9
Edinburg, Texas
7:00 p.m.

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

at

UTRGV

Coco Gillett Celebrate Red-White 08.19.21

Louisiana Volleyball Visits the Valley for UTRGV Tournament

9/8/2021 4:54:00 PM | Volleyball

Three-day trip closes out Ragin’ Cajuns season-opening road stretch

EDINBURG, Texas – Louisiana Volleyball returns to the court when the squad begins play in the UTRGV Tournament starting on Thursday (Sept. 9) at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns (3-1) will be in the Rio Grande Valley area for three days of competition facing host-UTRGV at 7 p.m. on Thursday, followed a matchup with Texas Southern at 3 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 10) and a 2 p.m. meeting with Incarnate Word on Saturday (Sept. 11).
 
The UTRGV contest is set to air on ESPN+, while the remaining two contests will be shown on the WAC Digital Network.
 
Louisiana wraps up pre-conference tournament action with the trip to Edinburg. It's also the final road trip prior to the Ragin' Cajuns first home match of the Kristi Gray era on Sept. 21.
 
THE MATCHES
Louisiana at UTRGV Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 9-11, 2021  |  Edinburg, Texas
UTRGV Fieldhouse
 
Thursday, Sept. 9
at UTRGV  //  Edinburg, Texas  //  7 p.m.  //  ESPN+
 
Friday, Sept. 10
vs. Texas Southern  //  Edinburg, Texas  //  3 p.m.  //  WAC Digital Network
 
Saturday, Sept. 11
vs. Incarnate Word  //  Edinburg, Texas  //  2 p.m.  //  WAC Digital Network
 
TV (Thursday): ESPN+
Live Video (Friday and Saturday): WAC Digital Network
Live Stats: GoUTRGV.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsVB
 
SET POINTS
  • The 2021 season serves as the inaugural campaign for Louisiana with head coach Kristi Gray, who was hired on April 26 after five highly successful seasons at Odessa College.
  • The Ragin' Cajuns started the Kristi Gray era with a 3-1 mark at the Southern Miss Classic back on Aug. 27-28, finishing one set shy of an undefeated weekend.
  • The UTRGV Tournament marks the final non-conference weekend for Louisiana and the last road trip prior to the home opener on Sept. 21 vs. Lamar.
  • It's the first trip to the Rio Grande Valley for the Ragin' Cajuns since Oct. 1996 when UTRGV (formerly UTPA) was a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
  • Kelsey Bennett has emerged as the early leader of Louisiana's offense in search of a replacement for prolific scorer Hali Wisnoskie. Bennett scored 57 kills (3.8/set) on a .301 percentage at Southern Miss.
  • Siena DeCambra has captured the starter's role as the Ragin' Cajuns' setter. She passed out 11-plus assists per set in three of the four matches at the Southern Miss Classic.
  • This is the second season Siena DeCambra runs an offense for Kristi Gray. She ran a 6-2 system under Gray's guidance at Odessa College in spring 2021.
  • Hannah Ramirez served up 10 aces at Southern Miss, leading the way as Louisiana totaled 31 as a team over 15 sets (2.07/set).
  • The weekend total of 73 digs at USM pushed Hannah Ramirez past 1,000 digs as a Ragin' Cajun (presently at 1,023).
  • The main keyword for Kristi Gray is "ENERGY" and it made for an exciting brand of volleyball produced by the Ragin' Cajuns opening weekend at USM.
 
NUMBERS TO KNEAUX
21: With three double-doubles at the Southern Miss Classic, Kelsey Bennett increased her career total number to a team-leading 21 double-doubles.
40: Senior libero Hannah Ramirez enters the UTRGV Tournament with an active streak of 40 consecutive matches recording double-digit digs (dates back to Oct. 2019)
.256: During the opening weekend of the season (at Southern Miss Classic), the Ragin' Cajuns offense posted a .256 hitting percentage – the current top mark in the Sun Belt.
 
UP NEXT
Louisiana hosts the first home match of the Kristi Gray era on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Earl K. Long Gym facing Lamar in a non-conference contest at 6 p.m.
 
The Lamar matchup marks the start of a three-match homestand for the Ragin' Cajuns that continues Friday-Saturday, Sept. 24-25 when Georgia State and Georgia Southern visit for the first Sun Belt Conference matches of the 2021 season.
 
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 -

Players Mentioned

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