University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Thursday, September 19
Lafayette
6:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
3-7
3
vs
2
Jacksonville State
7-4
1
2
3
4
5
F
Jacksonville State
26
27
20
25
3
2
Louisiana
24
29
25
10
15
3
Louisiana Lands Victory in Return to E.K. Long
9/19/2024 10:14:00 PM | Volleyball
Ragin’ Cajuns storm past Jax State in decisive fifth set
LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team picked the perfect time for its most commanding performance in Thursday's match with Jacksonville State and the result was the Ragin' Cajuns collecting a 3-2 (24-26, 29-27, 25-20, 10-25, 15-3) victory in the Ragin' Cajuns Classic opening match at E.K. Long Gym.
Louisiana (3-7) fired off 10 kills without error and hit .400 over 25 swings in the winner-take-all fifth set. The defense was equally as dominant – brushing off a fourth set defeat – limiting the Gamecocks (7-4) to two kills off 22 swings and a -.091 hitting percentage.
The Ragin' Cajuns quickly turned the page after dropping the fourth set 25-10, and wouldn't be denied. Beginning with a block from Chelsea Gilmore, then three straight kills in succession from Abby Cunningham, Cailin Demps and Jazmine Gaston, a 1-all tie was quickly turned into a 5-1 advantage for Louisiana.
The Gamecocks sided out but would gain no traction as Gilmore notched an overpass kill and UL rode the serve of Mio Yamamoto out to a 12-2 lead. Along the way the Cajuns collected four more kills and had piled up eight by that point in the decisive frame.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Louisiana and kept the squad unbeaten in five-set matches.
Neither team could break away from the other through the first two frames. Both stanzas went into extra points and there were a combined 17 ties and 11 lead changes.
There were no lead changes the rest of the night and the two teams took turn posting lopsided wins in the final two sets – fortunately for the Ragin' Cajuns they were the last to come up with a dominant effort.
The five-set battle was put in motion by a challenge issued by Louisiana in Set 2 with Jacksonville State sitting on set point at 24-22 and on the cusp of a 2-0 match lead. Though unsuccessful, it broke the Gamecocks' momentum as UL won the next three points to begin an extra points battle the Cajuns won to even the match.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Demps came to life in leading the charge on offense, scoring a season-high tying 19 kills on .421 hitting. She fired off nine kills in the critical Set 2 win and then landed five kills in the match clincher.
Gaston was the other Cajun in double figures with 10 kills. Cami Hicks had her top night of the season both in production and efficiency with nine kills off of 16 error-free swings for a .562 hitting percentage.
Gilmore and Hicks both had a pair of block solos and led the frontline efforts with five and four blocks, respectively.
Louisiana out-dug Jacksonville State 65-64, laying claim to the battle behind libero Mio Yamamoto's season-and match-high 29 digs. The digs tally marked the most Yamamoto's come up with at E.K. Long in her two-year stay.
Setter Megan Hawkins passed out 29 assists and steered the ship in Set 5 by assisting on nine of the 10 kills. She added 11 digs to her stat line to collect her team-leading fourth double-double.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana concludes its participation in the Ragin' Cajuns Classic on Friday, September 20 with a 6:00 p.m. match against Florida A&M at E.K. Long Gym.
The match with the Rattlers marks the Ragin' Cajuns final non-conference contest of the 2024 season.
As part of a united effort with the Junior League of Lafayette, the Louisiana Volleyball program will be collecting unopened packs of diapers to support the Stuff the Sleigh Diaper Drive which will benefit families in need.
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.
Louisiana (3-7) fired off 10 kills without error and hit .400 over 25 swings in the winner-take-all fifth set. The defense was equally as dominant – brushing off a fourth set defeat – limiting the Gamecocks (7-4) to two kills off 22 swings and a -.091 hitting percentage.
The Ragin' Cajuns quickly turned the page after dropping the fourth set 25-10, and wouldn't be denied. Beginning with a block from Chelsea Gilmore, then three straight kills in succession from Abby Cunningham, Cailin Demps and Jazmine Gaston, a 1-all tie was quickly turned into a 5-1 advantage for Louisiana.
The Gamecocks sided out but would gain no traction as Gilmore notched an overpass kill and UL rode the serve of Mio Yamamoto out to a 12-2 lead. Along the way the Cajuns collected four more kills and had piled up eight by that point in the decisive frame.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Louisiana and kept the squad unbeaten in five-set matches.
Neither team could break away from the other through the first two frames. Both stanzas went into extra points and there were a combined 17 ties and 11 lead changes.
There were no lead changes the rest of the night and the two teams took turn posting lopsided wins in the final two sets – fortunately for the Ragin' Cajuns they were the last to come up with a dominant effort.
The five-set battle was put in motion by a challenge issued by Louisiana in Set 2 with Jacksonville State sitting on set point at 24-22 and on the cusp of a 2-0 match lead. Though unsuccessful, it broke the Gamecocks' momentum as UL won the next three points to begin an extra points battle the Cajuns won to even the match.
LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Demps came to life in leading the charge on offense, scoring a season-high tying 19 kills on .421 hitting. She fired off nine kills in the critical Set 2 win and then landed five kills in the match clincher.
Gaston was the other Cajun in double figures with 10 kills. Cami Hicks had her top night of the season both in production and efficiency with nine kills off of 16 error-free swings for a .562 hitting percentage.
Gilmore and Hicks both had a pair of block solos and led the frontline efforts with five and four blocks, respectively.
Louisiana out-dug Jacksonville State 65-64, laying claim to the battle behind libero Mio Yamamoto's season-and match-high 29 digs. The digs tally marked the most Yamamoto's come up with at E.K. Long in her two-year stay.
Setter Megan Hawkins passed out 29 assists and steered the ship in Set 5 by assisting on nine of the 10 kills. She added 11 digs to her stat line to collect her team-leading fourth double-double.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana concludes its participation in the Ragin' Cajuns Classic on Friday, September 20 with a 6:00 p.m. match against Florida A&M at E.K. Long Gym.
The match with the Rattlers marks the Ragin' Cajuns final non-conference contest of the 2024 season.
As part of a united effort with the Junior League of Lafayette, the Louisiana Volleyball program will be collecting unopened packs of diapers to support the Stuff the Sleigh Diaper Drive which will benefit families in need.
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
JAXST
UL
Kills
57
51
Errors
26
23
Attempts
165
151
Hitting %
.188
.185
Points
68.0
67.0
Assists
52
47
Aces
5
7
Blocks
6.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OH
/ VolleyballOH/OPP
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
L
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