Louisiana volleyball continues their season at the Flo Hyman Classic in Houston, Texas. Starting off the tournament with a win (25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 25-13, 15-6) against the University of Houston.
Down a set, and trailing behind 19-16 in the fourth set, the Ragin’ Cajuns (2-2) used a kill from Jazmine Gaston to side out and then rode the serve of Megan Hawkins to climb out of the deficit — subsequently never looking back.
Hawkins served up an ace for a 20-19 advantage and Louisiana wouldn’t face a deficit the rest of the way. The result was a monumental win in Houston for the second straight season, adding to last season’s sweep over Rice.
Despite Houston (2-1) forging a pair of ties while the fourth set ended, the Cajuns never let their momentum change. After the last tie at 21-all, Louisiana capitalized on a UH service error by getting a kill from Cailin Demps that created a critical two-point edge.
The Cajuns continued the tournament with a final game against Northwestern State on Sept. 6, 2024. They fell short in the fourth set, leaving Northwestern to claim the 3-1 victory (25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23).
Louisiana extended the match to a fourth set after kills from Abby Cunningham and Jaylynn McNeill erased a 23-22 deficit and set up the extra point triumph in the third set.
Trailing 22-20 in the fourth set, the Cajuns would pull even on an ace from Megan Hawkins. However, the Demons answered back-to-back winners and prevented Louisiana from forcing extra points.
By forcing 14 ties and seven lead changes over the final two stanzas the Cajuns put themselves in a position to overcome a 2-0 match deficit.
Louisiana started the match with a 6-0 run, but the Demons ability to side out at 70 percent through the second set swung the momentum in their favor.
After battling back-to-back into a 16-all tie in the opening, NSU allowed the Cajuns to score consecutive points, completing the rally for the 25-23 victory.
In a game of runs in the third stanza, it was a set-opening 3-0 spurt featuring a block and kill from Cailin Demps that set the tone for the Cajuns. Louisiana countered every NSU push by breaking the late 4-0 run by the Demons, with the Cunningham-McNeill sequence jumping ahead to 24-23.
This past week, Louisiana was supposed to face McNeese State University, but because of Tropical Storm Francine, it was unfortunately canceled.
Luckily, the Cajuns were still able to attend the Texas A&M Invitational this past weekend. The tournament started on Friday, Sept. 13 with an unfortunate loss, 0-3, against New Hampshire (22-25, 20-25, 24-26).
By coming up with the key rallies late each frame, UNH (4-3) came out on top in an all-out battle that saw the two teams combine for 300 attack attempts, 146 digs, 17 blocks, and the defenses forced a combined 50 errors.
The match featured 29 ties and 12 lead changes with a knotted score of 20-all in each stanza. Louisiana tried to force extra points to extend the match in the third set.
Louisiana started the day with seven kills on .583 hitting to build an 11-7 lead before the Wildcats vaulted ahead with a 12-4 run. Jazmine Gaston, who led the early surge, later evened the set at 20-all with her sixth kill.
UNH got its first break of the day when back-to-back Cajuns miscues created a critical two-point separation from a tie at 21.
The Wildcats rode the momentum of a successful challenge in the second set to a 2-0 match advantage. After the reversal trimmed Louisiana’s lead to 19-18, seven of the final eight points ended in UNH’s favor.
Louisiana’s defense forced UNH into four errors during a 6-0 run that opened a 16-13 lead in set 3. The Wildcats rallied a tie, but the Cajuns recaptured the lead at 21-20 following a Lauryn Hill kill.
The tournament continued the following day with a match against Bryan-College Station, and ended with Louisiana losing 0-3 (23-25, 20-25, 19-25).
Lauryn Hill totaled out to 14 kills, Megan Hawkins had 10 digs, Jaylynn McNeill had 5 BLK and lastly Megan Hawkins had 16 AST.
The Cajuns will continue their season with a match against Southeastern on Sep. 17, with the Ragin’ Cajuns Classic being held that same weekend.