Bearcats head to state tournament for first time ever

History made.

For the first time in program history, the Ruston volleyball team advanced to the state tournament after a thrilling, four-set win (17-25, 25-18, 25-18, 27-25) against No. 10 Mandeville on Saturday at the Ruston Sports Complex.

Having already lost the first set of the match with a slow start, the Bearcats stormed back and took the next two sets with big performances across the board. With a trip to state on the line in the fourth set, and Ruston leading 19-14, the mainstay contributers came through once again just as the moment seemed to be slipping away when Mandeville fought its way back to make it 21-21 in the frame, and eventually took a 23-21 lead to seemingly dash Ruston's chances of taking the set and match.

But Jade Smith and Hannah Rollins proved why they're the trusted middle duo for the Bearcats down the stretch, with the duo scoring four of the last seven points for the Bearcats, capped off by Rollins' spiking the game-clinching point at the middle of the net.

"Overwhelmed," Ruston head coach Amanda Cauley said after the match. "It exceeded my expecations. The girls played thier hearts out today. I had so much senior leadership. I had freshmen leadership. It was really awesome that they played, for the most part, we played united. We had a slow start but we were rattled. We knew this game meant a lot and it just took us a minute. The nerves got the best of us for the first 10 points but we battled back, even in the first set, and closed that point differental to what it would have been if we had started quicker right away. But we did in the second, third and fouth set was amazing. My middles were phenomanal today but that takes passing and setting."

Smith led Ruston with 19 kills and 5 blocks, while Rollins, a fellow senior, put up 12 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 aces. Through two playoff games, Smith has 31 kills and 12 blocks while Rollins has 19 kills, 4 blocks and 3 aces.

Junior outside hitter Harper Cauley had 8 kills, 9 digs, and 2 aces, while freshman Baylor Cauley put up 5 kills, 1 block, 11 digs, 36 assists, and an ace. Senior Cala Wilson added 2 blocks and 4 digs.

"I'm just so proud of how much our hard work paid off because we never gave up and this is the team I knew could fight for each other," Rollins said postgame, fighting back tears.

"It's all a high right now," Smith said after the match. "It's the first time in history for us and I'm just so proud of us for pushing through and fighting and making it to the end and not giving up just because we lost the first set."

Before the season began, Cauley said the 2023 Bearcats could be a special group. With a program-defining win in the books, Cauley spoke on why her belief was so strong before the team even played an official game together.

"Their commitment to the game. Their commitment to get better in the offseason," Cauley said. "Their commitment to play year round and work hard in weight room and condition when they don't want to condtion and just show up day in and day out. And that means you're saying no to some things. That means not going to the football games on Friday nights. They've been saying no to things all season so they could say yes to opportunities like today and they were really bought in and behind each other once we got our legs under us."

And she wasn't surprised to see who stepped in the biggest moments.

"I know that this team means so much to [Hannah] and I'm just proud for all the seniors, even Cala making that diving play on serve recieve that everybody thought was going to hit the ground but she gave me that last little bit of effort. That kind of energy of, 'no, no way. This is my court,'" Cauley said. "Those kinds of plays were huge in sets two and three and it just lit the fire. I'm proud of the whole team."

Ruston trailed 9-0 in the first set as Mandeville's serving and attacks were finding open holes on the floor to open the match. Ruston eventually got it to 4-9 and then 8-12 but the Skippers stayed in front and continued to put balls down with force. Mandeville kept its lead and won the opening frame 25-17, but it proved to be a wakeup call that the Bearcats needed.

"It was just a fire lit under us of like we're not going to repeat what we've had the last three years and we wanted it and we knew we could do everything we could to make it happen," Rollins said.

In the second set, Ruston flipped the script and jumped ahead early thanks to kills from Smith and Harper to lead 4-1. But Mandeville didn't back away and crawled its way back to make it a 13-12 game after service errors from the Bearcats and continued to hang around as Ruston led 19-18. But it was all Ruston the rest of the way, capping off the much-needed set to even the match at 1-1 on an ace from Baylor.

Set three, the teams traded early blows and staying close at 7-7 and eventually 11-11. But then, the Bearcats went on a 6-3 run to pull ahead 17-14, and then 19-15 after a block and kill from Smith. Mandeville called timeout but it was too late as Smith came back with another big kill to make it 21-17 before Ruston closed the set with a 25-18 win.

"We just needed out energy and momentum back and we did. We had to keep fighting," Smith said.

Now the the Bearcats are headed to Lafayette and compete in the Cajundome for the first time ever, Cauley acknowledged everything from here on out is unfamiliar territory for her team. But thankfully, she's been to state before and already had contingencies lined up to help her squad prepare. Cauley made state back when she was Calvary Baptist three years ago and said the trip can be an overwhelming moment.

"I know that it is an overwhelming situation and I've been talking to them about external factors, the noise, the other schools, the fact that there are three teams playing at a time," Cauley said. "All those things are different. One thing we've already prepared for is we're practing in the Thomas Assembly Center [Sunday] so they can practice with different lights, different ceiling height, just a different distance between baseline and wall and trying to get them as prepared as possible.

"We played Mt. Carmel last year but it doesn't matter who it is, it's going to be uncharted territory and we're going to have to get there and battle the nerves and external factors and just play our game. We have nothing to lose Lay out. Go for it. We've already exceeded expecations so let's enjoy it and try and play with joy."