Dominant Finish Closes Out Louisiana Volleyball’s Sweep of Arkansas State

**NewsCopy** · October 9th, 2021, 12:16 am

A match-ending 13-3 run capped off Louisiana Volleyball's impressive straight sets sweep (25-21, 25-17, 25-22) of Arkansas State on Friday (Oct. 8) at Earl K. Long Gym, keeping the Ragin' Cajuns atop the Sun Belt West Division standings.

Louisiana (9-4, 4-1 Sun Belt) ran its winning streak to three matches and handed the Red Wolves (12-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) their first straight-sets defeat of the 2021 season.

The sprint to the finish line began when the Ragin' Cajuns scored five straight points to slice into ASU's 19-12 lead in the third set. The hosts would later chase away the visitors' attempt to extend the match with a dominant string of six unanswered points.

The ASU lead was officially erased when Emery Judkins and Coco Gillett each landed a kill and Kelsey Bennett followed with a service ace that forged a 22-all tie. Louisiana pulled ahead for good when Gillett found the floor on the next rally.

An ensuing Red Wolves timeout wouldn't slow down the rush from the Ragin' Cajuns, though, as Cami Hicks created match point with a kill and then Gillett closed the night by sending an overpass back over the net and to the floor for a kill.

Louisiana increased its offensive production throughout the contest with 14, 15 and 16 kills in succession. The squad drove down seven kills during the run that reversed course in the final stanza.

The defense bottled up the majority of the Red Wolves' roster and only two individuals (Macey Putt, Elise Wilcox) were able to surpass five kills.

The commanding 2-0 lead for the Ragin' Cajuns was accomplished by controlling play after the media timeout in the first two sets. Louisiana used a 7-3 run to break open a 15-14 lead in the opening stanza and a four-point run in the second set stretched out a 19-16 advantage.

LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Gillett led the way with 15 kills against only two errors over 34 total swings, turning in a .382 hitting percentage. She continued her recent trend of putting away matches by scoring seven kills in the third set, finished off by registering three of Louisiana's final five tallies.

Bennett turned in 10 kills and 11 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double. The digs tally pushed her past the 200-mark for the season, clinching her third consecutive 200-200 season of kills and digs.

Judkins was the unsung hero for the Ragin' Cajuns as she fired off nine kills on just 17 attempts with a .353 hitting percentage. Six of those kills, which marked her highest output in Sun Belt play, came as Louisiana built a 2-0 match lead.

Kara Barnes led the efforts on the front line with a match-high four blocks (3 BS, 1 BA). Hicks had a hand in three stuffs while also turning in five kills on only eight swings.

Hannah Ramirez rounded up a match-high tying 16 digs in leading the Ragin' Cajuns to a 49-48 advantage over the Red Wolves.

Siena DeCambra and Reka Kotorman combined for 41 assists and directed the offense to its 10th outing with a .200-plus hitting percentage (.288).

Bennett continued to shine at the service line by posting a career-high tying four aces. The total brought her season figure to 20 which represents a new personal single-season best.

UP NEXT
Louisiana returns to the court on Saturday (Oct. 9) at Earl K. Long Gym and will attempt to record a second consecutive 2-0 weekend in Sun Belt play. Little Rock provides the opposition as the Ragin' Cajuns seek to extend their winning streak.

First serve against the Trojans (11-7, 2-4 Sun Belt) is scheduled for 6 p.m.