SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team had the momentum taken away in the first two sets allowing Texas State to take a firm lead and go on to claim a 3-0 win (31-29, 25-19, 25-18) on Saturday, September 27 in the finale of a Sun Belt series at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (9-3, 1-1 SBC) had their three-match win streak snapped while the Bobcats (6-7, 1-1 SBC) salvaged a split in the two-match SBC Opening Weekend series.
Louisiana led 22-21 in the opening set following Cailin Demps’ third kill of the frame, but Texas State responded with back-to-back points paving the way for extra points.
After fighting off set point three times it was Demps landing another kill for a 29-28 lead and UL was eyeing another early match lead. However, the Bobcats sided out and Samantha Wunsch, who scored eight kills in the opening stanza, fired off back-to-back kills and instead Louisiana faced a 1-0 match deficit.
Demps’ serve made things difficult for Texas State’s passing resulting in three straight attack errors and an ace that expanded Louisiana’s early edge in Set 2 to 10-4. The Bobcats quickly reversed course with an 11-2 run to capture the lead for good.
Back-to-back blocks out of a timeout, both involving Demps and Lindsey Henry, sliced the TXST advantage to 15-14. The Bobcats sided out with a Nina Moorer kill and each subsequent time UL attempted for forge a tie and later used a set-ending 5-1 run to spread out a 20-18 margin and advance their match lead to 2-0.
It was another toss up scenario in Set 3 with Texas State clinging to a 15-14 lead after Marlee Ervin scored a Cajuns kill. The Bobcats eventually wrestled control by following up a Louisiana service error with a combo block from Jade Defraeye and Moorer that increased the lead to 20-16.
Texas State flipped the script on Louisiana and used offense to its advantage in the rematch. The Bobcats out-killed the Ragin’ Cajuns 52-35 on .311 hitting, starting off the match with 21 kills to outlast the visitors then using a 17-6 advantage in kills during Set 2 to seize control of the contest.
The Bobcats defense slowed down UL’s offense to the tune of a season-low .147 hitting percentage allowing their offense to have more attack attempts (119-116) after a substantial deficit on Friday. TXST posted nine blocks and out-dug the Cajuns 53-46.
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Demps led the way with 10 kills and was closely followed by Harley Krause with eight kills. The duo combined for eight kills in Set 1, scoring four apiece, in an effort to have the Cajuns out to an early lead.
Saturday’s production pushed Demps over the 150-kills mark for the fourth time in as many years in her collegiate career.
Blocking at the net was led by Henry’s four stuffs. Demps added three blocks of her own.
Setter Ryleigh Garis scooped a match-high 15 digs to go along with her team-leading 15 assists. It was the junior transfer’s second double-double and first since an opening weekend win over Tarleton State.
Libero Kennedy Gustafson chipped in 11 digs for her ninth double-digit effort of the season. The tally placed her on the verge of 600 career digs, now sitting at 595 digs.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana returns to E.K. Long Gym for its first home conference matches of the season, hosting App State from Friday-Saturday, October 3-4.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Mountaineers open the two-match Sun Belt series at 6:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 3) and conclude play on Saturday (Oct. 4) in a 1:00 p.m. contest. Friday's contest is being broadcast on ESPN+.
The UL Volleyball program is holding Volley Beach Night on Friday while Saturday is the annual Dig Pink match with fans encouraged to wear pink.
UL and App State last met in the 2023 season, a two-match sweep for the Ragin' Cajuns at E.K. Long. Since the SBC introduced the current schedule format in 2022, the home team has won all four matchups.
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