Ruston sweeps Haughton in season opener

It feels good to be home.

In the program’s first true home game since Oct. 24, 2022, Ruston volleyball returned to the RHS gymnasium like it never left in a clean sweep of the Haughton Buccaneers (25-15, 25-18, 25-15) Tuesday evening.

The Bearcats featured plenty of new faces next to a handful of experienced returners, with both parties delivering big plays to get the team started on the right track in 2024.

Ruston was led by senior outside hitter Harper Cauley, who finished with 10 kills, 3 service aces, 13 digs and 2 blocks. Her sister, sophomore Baylor Cauley, was a steady force at the service line all night with her 7 aces to go with 4 kills and 14 assists.

But perhaps the biggest contribution came from a varsity newcomer in sophomore middle Ava Crowe. If you came out to the match Tuesday, it would have been hard to tell she lacked experience as she put up 8 kills and 3 blocks in the win.

“It feels good to win. I just feel like we’re still not playing at our potential. I didn’t feel like we were as aggressive as we should have been,” Ruston head coach Amanda Cauley said. “That being said, I thought Ava Crowe played phenomenally. I thought she was very aggressive. She applied everything we’ve been working on in practice [Tuesday] and it was efficient, and it shows. She’s improved from two weeks ago to this point. Tremendously proud of the way she played tonight – her poise at the net, her big presence. I loved that.

“I thought my pins were steady, but I thought Harper could have swung a little more aggressively at times. We need to do a better job of covering our hitters when they attack. We got blocked a couple times and we weren’t there,” Cauley added. “But I’m nitpicky, so I’m looking for all the details of what we can do better because that’s what Southern Louisiana teams are going to do.”

Senior Rilee Atwood added 4 kills, while sophomore Jane Ramsey put up 3 kills respectively. Junior Kyndal Fobbs and senior Mariah White were effective at the service line with a combined for 4 aces.

Outside of the play of the Bearcats, Cauley couldn’t help but have a rush of emotion as she reflected on the team’s first game back in their own gym. Two years away from your turf makes you appreciate what you have.

“Being back here, literally, it brings back memories when my kids were little, and Josie was hanging on the rails and now Josie’s playing at the junior high and my kids are playing on the court,” Cauley said. “This place just feels like home and it’s the home of this program, so it was good to be back.”

The Bearcats may have had some jitters associated with the return home in the opening set as Haughton led early 4-0 and eventually 6-3. But Ruston got the set back to 7-7 and proceeded on an 8-2 run to lead 15-9 with Harper nailing two aces and a kill in that span. Haughton tried a late comeback, but the Bearcats put their foot down for a 25-15 win, ending fittingly on a kill from Harper from the left side. She had 3 kills and a pair of aces in the set, while Crowe had 2 kills.

The second set started with Ruston steadily grabbing control up 5-2 but Haughton kept taking advantage of Ruston attack and service errors to pull ahead 10-6, forcing a timeout by Cauley.

The Bearcats came out of the brief break on the attack to get within 11-10 but the Buccaneers pulled ahead once again to go ahead 17-10. But a late service error by the Buccaneers, sending Baylor to the service line for Ruston, proved to be their downfall.

Ruston jumped on Haughton for a 14-0 run to grip a 24-17 lead in a flash, sparked by Baylor’s serves to get Haughton out of system, setting up big kills from Crowe. With crisp set ups from setters, Crowe contributed 5 of Ruston’s final 12 points – sending her teammates into louder and louder uproars each time her big swings connected. Thanks to the big comeback, Ruston took the set 25-18.

Crowe finished the set with 4 kills and 2 blocks, while Harper had 3 aces and Baylor had 2 aces.

“She got us out of that hole. And that’s what we needed was some consistency from the service line,” Cauley said of Baylor. “We worked on serving tough – fast and flat – [Tuesday] during third hour. That was what we were trying to apply from the service line. And she got back there, and she really did it and got us out of a hole. I was grateful for her steady presence.”

Haughton gave Ruston an early scare with the final set tied at 10-10 but the Bearcats wanted to end the night in style. In turn, Ruston went on seperate 8-3 and 5-1 runs over the final 15 points of the match. Harper brought the hammer down from the left side of the net with 4 kills and 2 aces in the set alone, while Courtney Harris put up 2 blocks and Fobbs had 2 service aces.

The Bearcats closed the match with a 25-15 victory, outscoring the Buccaneers 15-5 in the home stretch.

“That’s why they’re veterans,” Cauley said. “They’ve got that experience and we rely on them.”

Ruston returns to action Thursday on the road at Airline. The match is set for 6 p.m.