Louisiana Outlasts Georgia Southern in Thrilling Season Finale

STATESBORO, Ga. – Driven by a bevy of season-high performances the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team sent senior opposite hitter Cailin Demps off victorious with a 3-2 win (25-17, 25-22, 19-25, 25-27, 15-13) over Georgia Southern in the season finale on Friday, November 14 at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia.

Redshirt freshman Grace Sweeney landed 22 kills and sophomore Marlee Ervin scored 19 kills – their season-high totals – to join forces with Demps who produced 19 kills of her own to lead the Ragin' Cajuns (15-11, 7-9 SBC) to a 72-69 advantage over the Eagles (19-8, 10-6 SBC).

The trio all hit .340-plus with only eight errors amongst their combined 144 swings to charge Louisiana's offense which rebounded from a sub-.100 clip in the series opener on Thursday and finished with a .260 hitting percentage.

Libero Kennedy Gustfason's season-and career-high 28 digs, along with season-high efforts of 16 digs apiece from setters Ryleigh Garis and Nene Hawkins, carried the Ragin' Cajuns over the century mark and to a 102-98 edge over the Eagles in the defensive slugfest.

The instant classic ended in Louisiana's favor courtesy of the swing of Sweeney who netted the team's final three points of the contest via the kill.

After spending the majority of Set 5 chasing the Eagles and finally catching up at 12-all, Sweeney fired off back-to-back kills to create permanent separation and moments later found the floor once again for match point.

Friday's result marked the second straight season the Ragin' Cajuns defeated the Eagles in the season finale.

Playing in her 108th and final career match, Demps landed her 20th double-digit kills outing of her senior season. The production brought her career-best, single-season kills performance to 337 kills and her final overall career tally to 978 kills.

From the onset of the contest it was evident the Ragin' Cajuns had a total mindset change from the series opener. Behind a commanding 29-14 advantage in kills, spearheaded by a combined 24 from Demps, Ervin and Sweeney, Louisiana stormed out to a 2-0 match lead.

Georgia Southern led from start to finish in Set 3 to extend the match, then were the ones who conquered the 14 ties the teams played through in Set 4 to set up the winner-take-all frame.

Trailing 9-6 in the decisive set, a pair of kills from Demps were the bookends to an Eagles miscue during a 3-0 run that turned the momentum in Louisiana's favor. Ervin kept the Ragin' Cajuns trading side outs until Sweeney broke the trend with her first of three match-ending kills.

Louisiana was extended to five sets for the first time since the opening weekend of the season. The Ragin' Cajuns improved to 9-1 in five-set matches dating back to the 2024 season.

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Louisiana Outlasts Georgia Southern in Thrilling Season Finale

Team Stats

Grace Sweeney

Marlee Ervin

Cailin Demps

Jazmine Gaston

Players Mentioned

Cailin Demps

Marlee Ervin

Ryleigh Garis

Nene Hawkins

Grace Sweeney

Players Mentioned

Cailin Demps

Marlee Ervin

Ryleigh Garis

Nene Hawkins

Grace Sweeney

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