Louisiana Sets Sights on Sun Belt Volleyball Crown in Foley

FOLEY, Ala. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team opens postseason play at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, meeting Old Dominion in the second round of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama.

The Ragin' Cajuns (18-12, 9-7 Sun Belt) finished regular season play as the No. 4 seed out of the SBC West Division while the Monarchs (14-16, 6-10 Sun Belt) landed at the No. 5 seed out of the SBC East Division, setting up Thursday's second round matchup in Foley.

The winner advances to play the East's No. 1 seed, Coastal Carolina (19-9, 14-2 Sun Belt), on Friday, Nov. 17 at 1:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.

Louisiana and ODU are set for a rematch a mere four weeks removed from splitting a two-match SBC series in Norfolk, Virginia (Oct. 19-20). The two teams are familiar with one another, having played a cross-divisional conference series the past two seasons.

Live video coverage of the UL-ODU contest, and all matches in the SBC Tournament, is available on ESPN+. Live stats can be accessed at CajunStats.com.

All 14 Sun Belt volleyball programs have descended upon Foley to compete for the league's tournament title Wednesday-Sunday, Nov. 15-19 at the Foley Events Center. The SBC Tournament utilizes a single-elimination format.

Louisiana's half of the tournament bracket, headed by the overall regular season champion Chanticleers and the SBC West No. 2 seed South Alabama, is slotted for the 2:00 p.m. semifinal contest on Saturday, Nov. 18. The championship match is slated for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19.

The 2023 event marks the 17th overall appearance for Louisiana in the SBC Tournament. It's the third appearance under the direction of head coach Kristi Gray, the Cajuns posting at least one victory in the prior two trips. Louisiana is in search of the first-ever title in program history.

Tickets may be purchased online through the Foley Sports Tourism Box Office. Tickets are sold on a daily basis and are $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for children ages 12 and under. Students of Sun Belt Conference institutions are admitted free with a valid student ID.

The Cajuns were victorious in the last matchup with the Monarchs, cruising to a four-set win in the series finale in Norfolk on October 20 by posting a resounding 60-39 advantage in kills and an enormous 69-42 margin in the digs department. Spearheading the charge offensively was the trio of Celeste Darling, Shyia Richardson and Lauryn Hill who combined for 44 of the scores.

The All-Sun Belt duo of Libero of the Year Mio Yamamoto and Second Team All-Sun Belt choice Siena DeCambra has driven Louisiana's late-season resurgence, having won six of the last seven matches entering the SBC Tournament. DeCambra closed the regular season averaging 10-plus assists per set each of the final four conference series and hit 40-plus assists in five of the last seven outings. Yamamoto averaged four-plus digs per set the final seven consecutive SBC series, rising to five-plus per set twice in the final three weeks.

Balance has been the mainstay for Louisiana's overall success this season. Five different players have posted over 150 kills, led by the duo of Richardson (362 kills) and Darling (277 kills) at outside and opposite hitter, and four different players have collected at least 200 digs, led by Yamamoto (457 digs) and defensive specialist Kennedy Gustafson (287 digs).

ODU is led by First Team All-Sun Belt selection Myah Conway, the first player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills, who currently leads the SBC and ranks 11th nationally with 504.0 points and is also first in the conference and 14th in the country with 439 kills. As a team, the Monarchs are second in the Sun Belt and 12th in the nation with 274 total blocks paced by the 110 blocks (22 BS, 88 BA) from Bailey Burgess.

OPENING ROUND MATCHUPS
Thursday, Nov. 16
(4W) Louisiana vs. (5E) Old Dominion // Foley, Ala. // 1:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 17
UL-ODU winner vs. (1E) Coastal Carolina // Foley, Ala. // 1:30 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsVB

MEDIA INFORMATION
SBC Tournament Central | SBC Tournament Bracket (PDF)
Match Notes (PDF): Louisiana
Rosters: Louisiana | Old Dominion | Coastal Carolina
Schedules: Louisiana | Old Dominion | Coastal Carolina
Stats (PDF): Louisiana | Old Dominion | Coastal Carolina

SERIES HISTORY
- Old Dominion: Louisiana leads, 3-1 | Last match: W, 3-1 on 10/20/2023 in Norfolk, Va.
At Neutral Site: First Meeting
Sun Belt Tournament: First Meeting
Last SBC Tournament: –
Current Streak: UL +1

- Coastal Carolina: Coastal Carolina leads, 7-0 | Last match: L, 0-3 on 11/19/2021 in Foley, Ala.
At Neutral Site: Coastal Carolina leads, 1-0
Sun Belt Tournament: Coastal Carolina leads, 1-0
Last SBC Tournament: 11/19/2021 in Foley, Ala. – Coastal Carolina W, 3-0
Current Streak: CCU +7

LOUISIANA'S SUN BELT TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Appearances: entering 17th (1991, 1997-2002, 2010, 2012-14, 2017, 2019-23)
All-Time Record: 7-17 (.292)
Best Finish: Semifinals (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2017)
Last Tournament Match: 11/18/2022 in Foley, Ala. – vs. Texas State L, 1-3 (18-25, 26-24, 20-25, 14-25)

2023 Sun Belt Volleyball Tournament Schedule
November 15-19, 2023 | Foley, Ala. | Foley Sports Tourism Complex

First Round – Wednesday, November 15
Match 1 - 2:30 p.m. CT – (6W) Arkansas State vs. (7E) Georgia State [ESPN+]
Match 2 - 5:00 p.m. CT – (6E) App State vs. (7W) ULM [ESPN+]

Second Round – Thursday, November 16
Match 3 - 11:00 a.m. CT – (3E) Georgia Southern vs. Winner Match 1 [ESPN+]
Match 4 – 1:30 p.m. CT – (4W) Louisiana vs. (5E) Old Dominion [ESPN+]
Match 5 – 4:30 p.m. CT – (3W) Troy vs. Winner Match 2 [ESPN+]
Match 6 – 7:00 p.m. CT – (4E) Marshall vs. (5W) Southern Miss [ESPN+]

Quarterfinals – Friday, November 17
Match 7 – 11:00 a.m. CT – (2W) South Alabama vs. Winner Match 3 [ESPN+]
Match 8 – 1:30 p.m. CT – (1E) Coastal Carolina vs. Winner Match 4 [ESPN+]
Match 9 – 4:30 p.m. CT – (2E) James Madison vs. Winner Match 5 [ESPN+]
Match 10 – 7:00 p.m. CT – (1W) Texas State vs. Winner Match 6 [ESPN+]

Semifinals – Saturday, November 18
Match 11 – 2:00 p.m. CT – Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8 [ESPN+]
Match 12 – 5:00 p.m. CT – Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10 [ESPN+]

Championship – Sunday, November 19
Match 13 – 3:00 p.m. CT – Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 12 [ESPN+]

SERVICE ACES
= For the fourth straight year, Louisiana Volleyball travels to the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama to take aim at the program's first Sun Belt Tournament title and NCAA automatic bid.
= The Ragin' Cajuns earned a bye from the first round (Nov. 15) and are set to begin play in the tournament's second round on Thursday, Nov. 16.
= UL faces a familiar opponent in its opener in Foley: SBC East No. 5 seed Old Dominion, one of the team's cross-division opponents the past two seasons.
= The winner advances to Friday's quarterfinal round match against SBC East No. 1 seed Coastal Carolina scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
= Louisiana is making its 17th all-time appearance in the Sun Belt Tournament and the third under the direction of Kristi Gray.
= In the previous two trips to Foley with Kristi Gray, UL has won at least one match.
= The Cajuns were 5-1 in neutral site matches this season, and totaled 11 wins away from home (11-8).
= Louisiana heads into the SBC Tournament having won six of its last seven matches.
= UL's 18 wins marked the fourth-highest recorded by a Sun Belt team in the 2023 regular season.
= Over the final seven matches, the Ragin' Cajuns offense averaged 14.2 kills per set on a .240 hitting percentage – hit .200-plus last six matches.
= Led by Mio Yamamoto (5.3 digs/set), UL has averaged 17.5 digs per set the last three weeks.
= Mio Yamamoto (1st Team) and Siena DeCambra (2nd Team) represented UL on the All-Sun Belt Team. Yamamoto was named Libero of the Year.
= Cami Hicks needs one block for a second consecutive 100-blocks season.
= Shyia Richardson, sitting at 362 kills, has picked up the third consecutive 200-plus kills season of her collegiate career, and her first 300-plus campaign.
= Shyia Richardson is the first to reach 300 kills since assistant coach Kelsey Bennett in 2021 (374).
= Setter Siena DeCambra currently ranks Top 15 nationally with 1,100 assists – one of only 13 players nationwide to tally 1,100 assists entering the week.
= Siena DeCambra tallied her 2,000th overall assist with UL during the South Alabama series (Oct. 13- 14). She enters SBC Tournament possessing the first 1,000-assists season of her collegiate career.
= Kara Barnes hit .310-plus the previous three seasons, tallying 150-plus kills each time. She's currently hitting .333 and has 199 kills.
= Celeste Darling has set a new personal single-season mark in total kills, her current total of 277 besting the previous-high 207 recorded last season.
= Cami Hicks (347) and Kara Barnes (323) rank No. 3 and 4, respectively, in UL's rally scoring era charts for career blocks. Hicks has an additional season to chase Kim Rodgers' record 396 blocks.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Should Louisiana record wins over Old Dominion and Coastal Carolina at the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament, the squad would then advance to the 2:00 p.m. semifinal round contest on Saturday, November 18 at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex.

The championship match is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 19 live on ESPN+.

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 -

Louisiana Sets Sights on Sun Belt Volleyball Crown in Foley

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Players Mentioned

Kara Barnes

Celeste Darling

Siena DeCambra

Kennedy Gustafson

Cami Hicks

Lauryn Hill

Shyia Richardson

Mio Yamamoto

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