Rejuvenated Cajuns Take Momentum Boost to San Marcos

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team closes out a four-match road stretch and crosses over into the second half of the 2023 season during a two-match Sun Belt Conference series at Texas State from October 6-7 inside Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas.

The Ragin' Cajuns-Bobcats series begins Friday at 6:00 p.m. and concludes Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats are available at CajunStats.com.

Louisiana (11-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) seeks to build upon the statement response to its Sun Belt opening weekend setback at home against Troy, opening the current road swing with an impressive series sweep of Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Arkansas last weekend (Sept. 29-30).

The success in Jonesboro was led by a revival both from the offense, which averaged 14.9 kills per set on .250 hitting, and from the defensive efforts which forced ASU to be extremely high-error and hit a paltry .101.

Both UL and Texas State (9-6, 2-2 Sun Belt) are battling for early positioning in the Sun Belt's West Division, both attempting to keep pace with South Alabama and Troy who are each off to a 4-0 start in league play.

The most recent success in San Marcos in the series between the two programs belongs to the Ragin' Cajuns who captured a 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23) win over the Bobcats in their first trip of the Kristi Gray era back in October 2021 – a homecoming trip for Gray who's a native of nearby Wimberley, Texas.

UL seeks to snap an overall four-match series skid to the Bobcats who swept the season series at E.K. Long Gym last season and claimed a four-set win in a Sun Belt Tournament matchup in Foley, Alabama.

Balance and working together has been the common theme to the Cajuns' success early on in the 2023 campaign - a factor which Gray feels separates her squad from the competition.

Through six weeks of action, Louisiana has seen five different players post 100 kills, led by the duo of Shyia Richardson (203 kills) and Celeste Darling (174 kills) at outside hitter, and four different players collect at least 130 digs, led by the libero combination of Mio Yamamoto (206 digs) and Kennedy Gustafson (194 digs).

THE MATCHUPS
Friday, Oct. 6 at Texas State // San Marcos, Texas // 6:00 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Twitter Updates

Saturday, Oct. 7 at Texas State // San Marcos, Texas // 2:00 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Twitter Updates

Match Notes (PDF): Louisiana
Rosters: Louisiana | Texas State
Schedules: Louisiana | Texas State
Stats (PDF): Louisiana | Texas State

SERIES HISTORY
- Texas State: TXST leads, 24-3 | Last match: L, 1-3 on 11/18/2022 in Foley, Ala. (SBC Tournament)
In San Marcos: TXST leads, 8-1 | Sun Belt Matches: TXST leads, 18-3
Current Streak: TXST +4

SERVICE ACES
= Louisiana wraps up a four-match road stretch in SBC play visiting Texas State for a West division showdown from Oct. 6-7 in San Marcos, Texas.
= The Cajuns started the road stretch with a series sweep at Arkansas State last weekend (Sept. 29-30).
= The ASU sweep moved UL to 8-5 away from home this season (away & neutral site combined).
= The success in Jonesboro also allowed UL to quickly rebound from the SBC opener setback vs. Troy.
= Louisiana's strong response at ASU saw the team average 14.9 kills per set on a .250 percentage.
= UL returned to full strength as Siena DeCambra stepped on the court after the injury in the Troy series.
= UL's defense has held foes to a sub-.200 percentage in all but seven of 18 matches this season – held ASU to a .101 clip for the entire series.
= In the last visit to San Marcos (in 2021), the Cajuns collected the program's first win at Strahan Arena.
= Cami Hicks posted her 300th career block in the Troy finale, becoming just the fourth Cajun to reach the mark in the rally scoring era (2001-present).
= Kara Barnes is three (3) blocks away from joining Cami Hicks in reaching the 300 career blocks mark.
= Shyia Richardson, sitting at 203 kills, has picked up her third consecutive 200-plus kills season of her collegiate career (started at San Francisco).
= Setter Siena DeCambra entered SBC Opening Weekend as the national leader in total assists (525).
= Siena DeCambra passed out 10-plus assists per set in all four non-conference tournaments.
= Kara Barnes hit .310-plus the previous three seasons, tallying 150-plus kills each time. She's currently hitting .344 and has 116 kills.
= Averaging a career-best pace 2.9 kills per set and totaling 174 kills, Celeste Darling is on pace to top her career-high mark in total kills (207 in 2022).

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns return home to E.K. Long Gym and close out the first half of Sun Belt Conference play when they face South Alabama from Friday-Saturday, October 13-14 in a two-match series.

Louisiana and South Alabama are scheduled to open the series at 6:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 13), then conclude play on Saturday (Oct. 14) in a 1:00 p.m. match.

The Cajuns are celebrating Youth Groups Night on Friday, kicking off the festivities with a pre-match tailgate hosted by Hot 107.9 and concluding the night with a Halloween costume contest at intermission. Saturday's match serves as Louisiana's Dig Pink Match with a survivor recognition and pink hair tie giveaway.

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.

Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

- www.RaginCajuns.com -

Rejuvenated Cajuns Take Momentum Boost to San Marcos

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Players Mentioned

Kara Barnes

Celeste Darling

Siena DeCambra

Kennedy Gustafson

Cami Hicks

Shyia Richardson

Mio Yamamoto

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