University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Friday, October 11
Lafayette
6:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
5-10, 1-3SBC
1
vs
3
Southern Miss
8-10, 4-2SBC
1
2
3
4
F
Southern Miss
26
21
25
25
3
Louisiana
24
25
21
15
1
USM Bounces Back and Takes Series Finale From Louisiana
10/11/2024 10:08:00 PM | Volleyball
Ragin’ Cajuns undone by Golden Eagles surge in offense the final two sets
LAFAYETTE – Southern Miss was the first to breakthrough in the defensive slugfest in the series with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team leading the visiting Golden Eagles to a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15) win on Friday, October 11 at E.K. Long Gym.
After the two teams split the first two sets, Southern Miss (8-10, 4-2 SBC) took charge with its offense nearly doubling up Louisiana (5-10, 1-3 SBC) in kills the rest of the way. The Golden Eagles breakaway was found in a 31-16 advantage in kills over the final two sets.
USM became the first team in the two-match set to find its footing offensively, closing out the night with a .255 hitting percentage (31-7-94). It was in stark contrast to the start of the match which saw both teams hit below .060 as the defensive battle carried over from the night before.
With the win the Golden Eagles gained a split in the series, redeeming themselves after having Set 5 slip away on Thursday, and gained additional cushion from the Ragin' Cajuns in the SBC West division ledger.
USM jumped on the board first following a topsy-turvy opening set that featured five lead changes. Cami Hicks' fourth kill of the frame forged extra points at 24-all, but the Golden Eagles quickly sided out with a kill from Izzy Kronenberg and clinched set point with an ace on the next rally.
Louisiana won service back early in Set 2 with a kill by Cailin Demps and then rode the serve of Mio Yamamoto out to a 7-2 advantage.
The Ragin' Cajuns never trailed after taking the lead on Yamamoto's first serve, then when USM sliced the lead to a single point, 22-21, it was back-to-back Chelsea Gilmore kills that guided the way to evening the match.
The match lead was up for grabs late in Set 3 with the score tied at 19-all, however the Golden Eagles reeled off five consecutive kills to land the knockout punch.
Kills from Demps and Abby Cunningham sparked a quick three-point spurt from the Cajuns that drew a 5-all tie in Set 3. A kill from Kronenberg reclaimed the lead and the Golden Eagles' offensive spark reached its peak rising to a .351 hitting percentage (14-1-37) by the end of the runaway frame.
The loss denied the Ragin' Cajuns the chance of becoming the first side in the all-time series with the Golden Eagles to post a sweep of a conference weekend set.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Demps led the offense for the second straight night, totaling 10 kills. She was closely followed by Hicks who had nine kills off of 20 error-free swings.
Hicks posted a match-high eight blocks, increasing her series total to 13 blocks (1 BS, 12 BA) and hitting her customary mark of five blocks for the 11th time in 15 outings. The graduate middle blocker upped her season total to 82 blocks (12 BS, 70 BA) inching her closer to a third straight season of 100 blocks.
Louisiana eclipsed the 100-dig mark for the second straight night following up their NCAA-season high total of 123 digs on Thursday with another 105 digs. Yamamoto led the charge with 25 digs and she was joined in double figures by Jazmine Gaston (18 digs), Lauryn Hill (17 digs) and Megan Hawkins (15 digs).
Hawkins added a team-leading 16 assists to her final stat line, completing her team-high seventh double-double.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana travels to Troy, Alabama for its first official road matches in Sun Belt Conference play set for Friday-Saturday, October 18-19 at Trojan Arena on the Troy University campus.
UL and Troy are slated to meet at 6:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 18) and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 19). Both matches are being televised on ESPN+.
The journey to Troy marks the first of back-to-back trips to the state of Alabama to close out the month of October – the Ragin' Cajuns visiting Mobile to face South Alabama the following weekend (October 24-25).
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.
After the two teams split the first two sets, Southern Miss (8-10, 4-2 SBC) took charge with its offense nearly doubling up Louisiana (5-10, 1-3 SBC) in kills the rest of the way. The Golden Eagles breakaway was found in a 31-16 advantage in kills over the final two sets.
USM became the first team in the two-match set to find its footing offensively, closing out the night with a .255 hitting percentage (31-7-94). It was in stark contrast to the start of the match which saw both teams hit below .060 as the defensive battle carried over from the night before.
With the win the Golden Eagles gained a split in the series, redeeming themselves after having Set 5 slip away on Thursday, and gained additional cushion from the Ragin' Cajuns in the SBC West division ledger.
USM jumped on the board first following a topsy-turvy opening set that featured five lead changes. Cami Hicks' fourth kill of the frame forged extra points at 24-all, but the Golden Eagles quickly sided out with a kill from Izzy Kronenberg and clinched set point with an ace on the next rally.
Louisiana won service back early in Set 2 with a kill by Cailin Demps and then rode the serve of Mio Yamamoto out to a 7-2 advantage.
The Ragin' Cajuns never trailed after taking the lead on Yamamoto's first serve, then when USM sliced the lead to a single point, 22-21, it was back-to-back Chelsea Gilmore kills that guided the way to evening the match.
The match lead was up for grabs late in Set 3 with the score tied at 19-all, however the Golden Eagles reeled off five consecutive kills to land the knockout punch.
Kills from Demps and Abby Cunningham sparked a quick three-point spurt from the Cajuns that drew a 5-all tie in Set 3. A kill from Kronenberg reclaimed the lead and the Golden Eagles' offensive spark reached its peak rising to a .351 hitting percentage (14-1-37) by the end of the runaway frame.
The loss denied the Ragin' Cajuns the chance of becoming the first side in the all-time series with the Golden Eagles to post a sweep of a conference weekend set.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Demps led the offense for the second straight night, totaling 10 kills. She was closely followed by Hicks who had nine kills off of 20 error-free swings.
Hicks posted a match-high eight blocks, increasing her series total to 13 blocks (1 BS, 12 BA) and hitting her customary mark of five blocks for the 11th time in 15 outings. The graduate middle blocker upped her season total to 82 blocks (12 BS, 70 BA) inching her closer to a third straight season of 100 blocks.
Louisiana eclipsed the 100-dig mark for the second straight night following up their NCAA-season high total of 123 digs on Thursday with another 105 digs. Yamamoto led the charge with 25 digs and she was joined in double figures by Jazmine Gaston (18 digs), Lauryn Hill (17 digs) and Megan Hawkins (15 digs).
Hawkins added a team-leading 16 assists to her final stat line, completing her team-high seventh double-double.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana travels to Troy, Alabama for its first official road matches in Sun Belt Conference play set for Friday-Saturday, October 18-19 at Trojan Arena on the Troy University campus.
UL and Troy are slated to meet at 6:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 18) and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 19). Both matches are being televised on ESPN+.
The journey to Troy marks the first of back-to-back trips to the state of Alabama to close out the month of October – the Ragin' Cajuns visiting Mobile to face South Alabama the following weekend (October 24-25).
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 -
Team Stats
USM
UL
Kills
52
40
Errors
23
28
Attempts
199
183
Hitting %
.146
.066
Points
66.0
53.0
Assists
47
38
Aces
6
3
Blocks
8.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballKristi Gray Media Availability (Nov 3, 2025)
Monday, November 03
Kristi Gray Media Availability (Oct 27, 2025)
Monday, October 27
Kristi Gray Media Availability (Oct 20, 2025)
Monday, October 20
Kristi Gray Media Availability (Oct 13, 2025)
Monday, October 13
