The University of Louisiana volleyball team travels to San Marcos, Texas, this weekend to take part in its third tournament of the 2011 season, the CenturyLink Premier hosted by Texas State Friday and Saturday at Strahan Coliseum.

The Ragin' Cajuns (5-2) are slated to square off with New Mexico State (4-2) and host Texas State (4-3) on Friday. The squad concludes tournament play on Saturday with matches against Houston Baptist (4-3) and Northwestern State (1-5).

Louisiana enters the CenturyLink Premier riding a three-match winning streak, taking victories over Lamar on Tuesday and sweeping Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley State during last weekend's Bon Temp Invitational at Earl K. Long Gym.

Tonice White leads all UL attackers with a .350 hitting percentage, which ranks fourth-best in the Sun Belt Conference. Lesley Mirarchi leads the team with 62 kills, followed by Blair Claypoole with 60.

Setter Mandi Gavin is inching closer to the joining the program's all-time career Top 5 for assists, needing 262 assists to join the list. Gavin is averaging 8.29 assists per set and contributing defensively with 2.33 digs per set.

Louisiana leads the Sun Belt Conference in service aces with 50 through 24 sets (2.08 aces/set). The Cajuns serve receive has been strong, also, having committed only 26 reception errors.

In the tournament opener the Cajuns face former Sun Belt rival New Mexico State. It's the first meeting between the two programs since the Aggies left the SBC in 2005. NMSU is led by preseason All-WAC selections Kelsey Brennan, Jennah DeVries and Desiree Scott. The Aggies are 4-2 after the season's first two weekends, taking losses to fifth-ranked Nebraska and LSU.

The host-Bobcats enter the weekend with a 4-3 overall record and are coming off a sweep of West Virginia on Monday in the team's 2011 home opener. Amber Calhoun and Melissa Toth pace the squad's offense with 78 and 73 kills, respectively. Louisiana and Texas State are meeting for the first time since 1991.

Saturday's matchup with Houston Baptist marks the third meeting all-time between the two schools. UL downed Houston Baptist in a five-set thriller in last season's Ragin' Cajuns Invitational (25-21, 9-25, 22-25, 40-38, 15-10). HBU has four players averaging over two kills per set led by Heather Leaverton at a 2.93 clip.

The tournament finale with Northwestern State marks the first time the two squads have played since 2009, which saw the Demons sweep the Cajuns in Natchitoches. UL leads the all-time series 15-11. NSU is coming off a tough five-set defeat against UNLV at the Texas Tech Invitational, and has struggled offensively hitting a paltry .059 through six matches.

Live coverage of the entire tournament is available through www.txstatebobcats.com Links to live video and live stats can be accessed through the tournament homepage - www.txstatebobcats.com/centurylinkpremier