MOBILE, Ala. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Volleyball team was in catch-up mode throughout the match with South Alabama on Thursday night at Jaguar Gym in Mobile, Alabama and the result was a straight sets win (25-12, 25-20, 25-16) for the homestanding Jaguars.

South Alabama (12-7, 6-1 Sun Belt) trailed only once in the contest, the deficit not occurring until the third set when Louisiana (9-7, 3-4 Sun Belt) scored the first point and opened with a 3-1 lead.

The Ragin’ Cajuns were hampered by a .045 hitting percentage (27 K, 22 E, 112 TA) and a Jaguars defense that threw up 11 blocks and out-dug the visitors 59-38.

USA raced out to a 9-3 lead in the opening set and led by as many as 14 points in laying hold to the match lead.

A pair of aces factored into a five-point spurt early in Set 2 that snapped a tie and moved the Jaguars ahead 8-3. Kara Barnes slammed home a kill off of a free ball to trim the deficit to 13-8, but USA managed to extend the lead out to 18-9.

Louisiana used a trio of blocks over the span of the next 11 rallies to draw closer at 22-16, then forced a South Alabama timeout after a Lauryn Hill kill made it 24-20.

The Ragin’ Cajuns block remained strong at the onset of Set 3 with Barnes having a hand in a pair of stuffs that sparked the quick 3-1 start. It remained close through an 8-all tie, however Louisiana committed three costly attack errors during a 5-0 run by USA that created separation.

Trailing 18-10 the Ragin’ Cajuns made one last push sparked by Celeste Darling who had a pair of kills and a block during a 5-1 surge that cut the deficit to 19-15. After the two sides swapped scores, the Jaguars recorded the final five points of the match.

South Alabama extended its winning streak to five matches while Louisiana was dealt a third consecutive straight sets defeat.

LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS

Darling paced the Ragin’ Cajuns offense with eight kills on a team-best .353 hitting percentage. She was also involved in three blocks.

Emery Judkins landed five kills off of her 16 swings and threw up two blocks. Barnes, Hill and Coco Gillett each registered four kills.

Barnes and Cami Hicks both posted a match-high of four blocks. Gillett (13 digs) and Hill (10 digs) combined for 23 of Louisiana’s 38 total digs.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA

The Ragin’ Cajuns return to Jaguar Gym on the USA campus in Mobile, Alabama on Friday, October 14 to close out the two-match Sun Belt Conference series with South Alabama.

The rematch between the two SBC West Division foes is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. with live video coverage on ESPN+ and live stats available at CajunStats.com.