By Kyle Roberts
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Ruston High’s volleyball season drew to a close Wednesday night in the first round of the 2025 LHSAA Volleyball Playoffs in four sets against Barbe High School by scores of 25-16, 25-22, 20-25 and 25-16 in the No. 11 vs. No. 22 matchup.
Ruston Head Coach Mandy Cauley praised her team’s effort — particularly in winning set three and trailing 2-0.
“To win set three shows resilience and determination,” Cauley said. “There was never a point where I felt like the girls gave up at all. I just felt like we were a little delayed in adjusting to what they were doing, and set three, I decided to flip the matchup where (junior Ava Crowe) was lined up with their more dominant middle, and that worked well for us.
“We were just a little late figuring out how to stop what they were doing. They were a little stronger than our block. It’s an area that we’ve been working on all season — it’s just an area where we’re going to have to continue to grow and get better.”
Crowe’s opened the third set with a kill to give Ruston some life and energy to ultimately win 25-20. Junior Baylor Cauley finished the set with six kills
“We did get on a good stretch and (Barbe) made more errors in set three,” Cauley said. “And volleyball’s all about errors. Our goal is to create longer and longer rallies, and then figure out creative ways to finish those rallies. We showed some good tips at critical moments, which is something we’ve been working on this past week in preparing.
“Overall, it was just who was going to outlast and execute a little bit better, and Barbe did.”
Baylor Cauley finished with 14 kills on the night and five aces, while junior Jane Ramsey totaled 12 kills.
Ruston returns a vast majority of the roster into next season with only senior Camille Smith graduating off the roster.
“I don’t feel like there’s anything to hang our heads about,” Cauley said. “We knew who we were. We’re a very young team, and it just took us a while to build, and build, and build, and get comfortable in certain roles and positions, and then figuring out just what it means to win.
“I think, hopefully, we learn from this, and we can continue to build next year.”
