Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team travels west this weekend to play their first Sun Belt Conference road matches of the season.
On Friday, Oct. 1, UL visits North Texas for a 7 p.m. match in Denton, Texas and wraps-up weekend play with on Sunday, Oct. 3 in Denver at 2 p.m. CT.

The Ragin' Cajuns (11-6, 2-0 Sun Belt) enter the weekend road swing riding a four-match win streak that date backs to Sept. 18. Last weekend, UL started off its Sun Belt slate 2-0 for the first time since 2001 with a 3-1 win over Troy on Friday, Sept. 24 and another 3-1 decision over South Alabama on Sunday, Sept. 26. With the win over USA, Louisiana reached 10 wins for the first time since 2002.

Senior Lindsay Brown is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. Brown, the career record holder for digs in the rally scoring era, was named the Collegiate Volleyball Update's (CVU.com) National Player of the Week on Tuesday becoming the first player in school history to earn that distinction. Through 67 sets played, Brown has 383 total digs and averages 5.72 digs per set, which ranks seventh nationally.

Middle blocker Lesley Mirarchi, this week's Sun Belt Volleyball Player of the Week, notched 20 kills in the win against Troy and added another 18 against USA during the Sun Belt opening weekend. On the season, Mirarchi leads the Cajuns with 221 kills for an average of 3.30 kills per set. She also leads the team with 58 blocks for 0.87 blocks per set.

UL's balanced offensive attack has been strong all season. Senior Caroline Dufrene inked 16 kills in Tuesday's win against McNeese State. This year, Dufrene has 150 kills for an average of 2.31 per set.

Kerrilyn Lazare has 144 kills on the year for a mark of 2.15 per set, helping Mirarchi and Dufrene fuel the Cajuns offense.

Setter Mandi Gavin has recorded 50-plus assists in two out of her last three matches. In the Troy match she had 51, while setting a career-high 56 against South Alabama. Gavin has 670 assists for an average of 10.00 per set.

North Texas (9-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) has won three out of their last five contests. UNT opened conference play with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-18) sweep of Florida Atlantic, but dropped a 3-0 (23-25, 19-25, 20-25) decision to FIU. Amy Huddleston leads the Mean Green with 228 kills for an average of 3.68 kills per set.

The Pioneers of Denver (6-11, 0-3 Sun Belt) are in the midst of a six-match losing skid that dates back to Sept. 12. Last weekend, Denver fell to FIU in straight sets, 3-0 (27-29, 16-25, 20-25), and lost to Florida Atlantic by a 3-1 count (23-25, 29-27, 14-25, 18-25).

This weekend's matches with the SBC West foes marks the first of two meetings with North Texas and Denver. The Mean Green will return the trip to Earl K. Long Gym on Friday, Oct. 15, while the Pioneers will visit on Saturday Oct. 16.

Live stats will be available for this weekend's matches at RaginCajuns.com.