BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas ( RAGIN’ CAJUNS ATHLETICS ) — The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team fell in straight sets for the third time at the Texas A&M Invitational following the host-Aggies’ 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-16) win on Sunday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (2-6) held leads in the second and third sets, but ultimately it was an astounding 82% success rate at siding out that carried the Aggies (7-0) over the top.
Texas A&M took advantage of four players with six or more kills on .300-plus hitting. The Aggies finished the contest out-hitting Louisiana .340 (45 K, 12 E, 97 TA) to .144 (31 K, 18 E, 90 TA).
Louisiana was unable to find its footing in the opening set and the Aggies took full advantage. Texas A&M held UL to .000 hitting and doubled the Cajuns up in kills (14-7) to lay claim to the match lead.
The Ragin’ Cajuns bounced back in Set 2 firing off 13 kills on .333 hitting and the result was a 15-all deadlock after a kill from Jaylynn McNeill out of the media timeout. The Aggies found separation with a trio of winners and later got a pair of touch calls to stretch the advantage out to 23-18.
1st and 10: 2024 Week 2 A pair of Lauryn Hill kills fueled a 4-1 spurt that had the Cajuns leading 10-7 in Set 3. After the sequence, Texas A&M would piece together two separate 5-0 scoring runs which proved to be the difference maker in the frame.
Sunday’s outing was the Ragin’ Cajuns’ final road non-conference tournament contest of the season. Texas A&M topped Louisiana for the second time in the past three seasons and remained unbeaten (4-0) in the all-time series.
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Hill hit double figures in kills and led UL for the second straight day, totaling 10 scores off her 29 swings.
Jazmine Gaston supplied seven kills while Cailin Demps and McNeill combined for 11 kills from the opposite hitters’ slot. McNeill had one of the top days of her young collegiate career, netting five kills off of her 11 swings on .364 hitting.
Cami Hicks continued her steady play on the frontline defense, totaling five blocks to hit the amount of the sixth time in eight matches. Sunday’s performance brought her into a tie for the program’s rally-scoring era career record with Kim Rodgers at 396 career blocks.
Girl Power: Two Abbeville High students win world powerlifting championships McNeill’s standout day saw her add four blocks to her final stat line. She reached four blocks for the third time in her rookie collegiate season and upped her season total to 24 blocks which ranks second on the team.
Libero Mio Yamamoto was tied for the match lead with 10 digs, picking up her sixth double-digit effort of the season.
Setters Megan Hawkins (13 assists) and Danielle Taix (12 assists) combined to pass out 25 helpers out of the 31 kills Louisiana recorded.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin’ Cajuns travel to Hammond, Louisiana on Tuesday, Sept. 17 for the conclusion their current six-match road stretch with a 6 p.m. match against reigning two-time Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana in the University Center.
The match with the Lady Lions, marking UL’s first visit to Hammond since 2015, is being televised on ESPN+.
Following the SLU match, Louisiana returns to E.K. Long Gym to celebrate Alumni Weekend with the Ragin’ Cajuns Classic beginning on Thursday, Sept.19 against Jacksonville State.
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