Ruston volleyball opens season with strong week

Ruston volleyball finished its opening week strong with three road wins, including two at a competitive North/ South Tournament in Lafayette on Saturday.

The Bearcats (4-2) picked up where they left off from their home opening win over Haughton with a road win at Airline on Thursday evening, taking the win 3-1 (17-25, 25-13, 2521, 25-23).

Ruston lost the first set due to miscommunication and poor positioning, letting the frame get out of hand from its initial 12-12 tie. Airline took advantage and ended the set on a 13-5 run by scoring off service errors and placing strikes where the Bearcats weren’t.

But like any competitive team, Ruston battled back and left Airline in the dust in a trio of hard- fought sets. In set two, Ruston started strong with three straight aces from Rilee Atwood, followed up by a kill from Harper Cauley for a 4-0 lead. The Bearcats kept a four-point cushion for most of the set, bumping their lead to 14-6 at the midway point. Airline tried to fight back by cutting the lead to 15-10, but Ruston ended the set on a 15-3 run thanks to a pair of kills by Harper and strong serves from Laia Canovas.

Just like the second set, Ruston started strong again with a 6-3 lead, but Airline kept chipping away, eventually tying the frame at 12-12. Out of a timeout, both teams traded service errors to get it to 14-14, only for Airline to keep sticking around to bring the set to 18-18 to set up a dramatic finish. But the Cauley sisters delivered down the stretch, with Harper’s back- to- back kill and ace giving Bearcats serve and a 20-18 lead. Airline got the set to within 22- 21 but late kills by Jane Ramsey and the final blow from Baylor Cauley gave Ruston a 2-1 match lead.

The best set of the match was saved for last in a back-and-forth set that never saw a lead grow to more than two for either side. Ruston trailed 6-4 early until eventually taking a 7-6 lead and extending it on to 15-13. Airline would retake the lead at 16-15, only for Ruston to take it back two plays later. The set remained in a flurry of ties at 18-18, 19-19, 21-21.

After Ruston gave Airline a 22- 21 lead, the Bearcats turned to their best attacker of the night to seal the win, with Harper smacking three kills in Ruston’s final four points to seal the victory at 3-1.

For the match, Harper led Ruston with 18 kills, 2 aces, and 9 digs. Baylor finished with 11 kills, 12 assists, and 7 digs. Canovas put up 16 assists and 3 aces, while Atwood had 3 aces, 6 digs and a kill. Crowe had a pair of kills and 3 blocks.

Ruston then headed to the North/ South Tournament in Lafayette on Saturday for four matches and came away with a 2-2 record, picking up wins over New Iberia (25-23, 25- 8) and Ascension Episcopal (25-15, 26-24) and falling to Lafayette Christian ( 12- 25) and Catholic- New Iberia (17-25, 11-25).

In the win over New Iberia, Ruston was led by Crowe with 8 kills while Harper had 6 kills. Baylor had 2 kills and 3 aces, while Canovas had a team-high 4 aces. Against Ascension Episcopal, Harper had a team-high 12 kills and 15 digs. Baylor had 7 kills and 12 assists. Camille Smith, Atwood, and Ava each had 2 kills as well.

Across the weekend’s four matches, Harper led Ruston with 28 kills, 31 digs, and 3 aces. Baylor finished with 15 kills, 25 assists, and 5 aces. Crowe put up 11 kills, while Canovas had 4 aces and 26 assists. Seniors Ellie Koonce and Rilee Atwood each had 4 kills, while Atwood added 19 digs to her line.

Ruston coach Amanda Cauley was pleased with her team.

“The girls fought hard to pull out the win at Airline. I’m very proud of them,” Cauley said. “ We struggled some on Saturday when facing faster, more experienced offenses. But that’s exactly what we needed in order to get better.”

Ruston travels to C.E. Byrd tonight at 6 p.m.