Reverse sweep provides Cajuns crucial volleyball win in Arlington

Ragin’ Cajuns vault past UT Arlington into second place in Sun Belt West Division standings

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ARLINGTON, Texas – Sparked by the outside hitter combination of Hali Wisnoskie and Kelsey Bennett who together combined for 44 kills, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team pulled off a reverse sweep to claim an all-important 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-10) win over UT Arlington on Friday at the College Park Center.

Wisnoskie was the key catalyst for Louisiana (16-4, 10-4 Sun Belt) in overcoming a 2-0 match deficit as she poured in 16 of her match-leading 24 kills over the final three frames. Those efforts led to the Ragin’ Cajuns overpowering the Mavericks (8-4, 8-4 Sun Belt) with 44 kills on a .285 hitting percentage during the comeback.

An 8-0 run which built a 10-4 advantage in the third set put Louisiana on the road to extending the match. UTA crawled back and cut the deficit to 21-19, but Bennett scored a kill for a key sideout and Wisnoskie clinched the set with back-to-back kills.

The Ragin’ Cajuns erased an 18-14 deficit in the fourth set with Wisnoskie netting a kill to forge a 20-all tie and kick off the final push. An Avery Breaux ace gave Louisiana the lead for good and later it was Wisnoskie’s sixth and seventh kills of the frame that captured the winning points.

The decisive fifth hung in the balance with six ties, the last coming at 6-6 before a Mavericks service error opened a door that Wisnoskie slammed shut. On each of the next three rallies the Ragin’ Cajuns senior outside hitter produced a kill to open a 10-6 lead that proved to be insurmountable.

With the win Louisiana secured double-digit wins in Sun Belt Conference play for the second straight season, the first-ever occurrence in program history.

It was the Ragin’ Cajuns 11th consecutive regular season road victory dating back to last season and moved the squad within one win of clinching the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed out of the Sun Belt’s West Division.

LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Wisnoskie landed her 24 kills on a .377 hitting percentage and added 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. She scored five kills off of nine error-free swings in the winner-take-all fifth stanza.

Bennett scored a career-high 20 kills off a match-high 65 attack attempts. The production pushed the junior outside hitter’s career kills tally past the 500-mark (now at 508). She added 16 digs to her stat line marking her team-leading ninth double-double.

Louisiana out-dug UTA 109-103 with Hannah Ramirez’s 29 digs leading the way and Avery Breaux’s 22 digs closely following. For Ramirez it was her 32nd consecutive match with double-digit digs, a streak which dates back to last Oct. 11.

Kara Barnes and Lauren Tishkoff each supplied 10 kills. Tishkoff joined Breaux and Cami Hicks in leading the team with two blocks.

Breaux passed out 56 assists as she recorded 50-plus in a match for the fourth time this season. The senior setter averaged 10-plus assists per set for the 17th time in 20 outings.

UP NEXT
The Ragin’ Cajuns and Mavericks return to the court at the College Park Center in Arlington at 6 p.m. on Friday to continue the three-match series. The match can be seen live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at CajunStats.com.

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