By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON — Ruston High will play Episcopal School of Acadiana on Saturday inside the Thomas Assembly Center, marking the first time a varsity high school match has been played in the arena on Louisiana Tech’s campus.
The match follows Louisiana Tech’s 1 p.m. match against McNeese, part of the Bulldogs’ Bulldog Bash weekend. Admission is free.
Saturday begins as a tri-match in Ruston High’s main gym, with Ruston playing Byrd at 10 a.m. and Episcopal playing Byrd at 11:30 a.m. After a lunch break, players, parents and fans reconvene at the Thomas Assembly Center for Tech and McNeese, and Ruston and Episcopal take the floor after that.
The match came together after Louisiana Tech head coach Scott Mattera reached out to ask whether Ruston wanted to play in the building, Cauley said, and after both programs checked that it was allowed.
“Scott has been doing a really good job of trying to create more of a volleyball footprint in our community,” Cauley said. “And he reached out asking if we wanted to play in the gym, because the rules changed and it’s allowed now. And he looked into it with compliance. I checked into it with the LHSAA, and it’s perfectly legal. I talked to the officials and they said that wasn’t going to be a problem. So logistically and legally, everything is — you know, we made sure everything was good to go, and we’re real excited about it.”
Cauley said the arrangement works for both sides: Tech gets a crowd of parents and kids in the stands for its own match, and Ruston’s players get a night most of them may not get again after high school.
“Most of high school athletes will never play in college,” she said. “For them to have a college game day experience — we’re going to have an announcer, and we’re going to have a ball crew, and we’re going to have paid line judges. We’re going to try to mimic the collegiate experience as much as possible for them, just to say they had it.”
Ruston’s players are not strangers to the building. Most have attended camps there, and the team practiced in the arena once, three years ago, to prepare for the state tournament. Playing a match in it, Cauley said, is something else.
“The playing will be a completely different mindset and opportunity,” she said.
For Cauley, it is also a full-circle return: she played volleyball at Louisiana Tech from 1997 to 2000, in an era when the crowds bore no resemblance to what Saturday’s should look like.
“Things have changed a lot in the amount of people in the stands, because in ’97 we had maybe six people in attendance,” Cauley said. “We played for like six people, like three parents. … They were like our rock-solid three fans in the bleachers.”
Growing the sport locally in North Louisiana was part of the plan when she initially took over the Ruston program.
“When I started this program, I had a 20-year plan, and one of them was to change the volleyball community,” she said. “It feels pretty good. It feels good to have leadership that recognizes that there does need to be more of an effort. And I appreciate Scott and what he’s doing and the opportunities he’s providing for the kids.”
Cauley said she has been at Ruston long enough to feel confident about Saturday’s place in the record.
“I’ve been here a long time, and to my knowledge, this is the first high school match,” she said. “There wasn’t high school volleyball here when I played, and then since I’ve been here, there hasn’t been a game in the Thomas Assembly Center.”
She also said the day serves a purpose beyond the occasion, particularly against a tough opponent.
“Hopefully it’s helping us get ready for a strong postseason run,” Cauley said.
Lady Bearcats fall in four to defending state champion
RUSTON, La. — Ruston took one set from the Madison-Ridgeland Academy Patriots on Thursday night and spent the other three chasing, falling 22-25, 25-11, 19-25, 21-25 in the Ruston High main gym.
Ruston head coach Mandy Cauley said the Mississippi school (16-5) gave the Bearcats (3-3) some things to work on as the season continues.
“They were a great team, and they did some things really well, and it just gave us some homework and things we’re going to work on to get better,” Cauley said.
The Patriots opened with a 4-0 run, and Ruston spent the first set catching up, drawing even at 8 and leading 14-13 before surrendering four in a row. Trailing 19-15 out of a timeout, the Bearcats scored three straight — kills by senior middle hitter Jane Ramsey and freshman Emma Bissell, along with an Ellie Williams ace — but got no closer.
“I actually think our home crowd, which was amazing, worked against us … they’re young and they got rattled and they got so excited and afraid to make a mistake, but we didn’t really play free,” Cauley said. “And then we did, we got looser in set two. We did really good. And then we’re just learning to manage that.”
The second set was different from the first serve on. Senior setter Baylor Cauley served three aces in a six-point run that put Ruston ahead 8-2 and forced a timeout, and the Bearcats never trailed. They closed it with three blocks in the final four points, the last from Ramsey and freshman outside hitter Lily Bissell.
Ruston fell behind by seven in the third and used both timeouts. The fourth was closer: down 13-8, the Bearcats got four kills from Ramsey in a five-point stretch to lead 17-16, their only lead of the set. The Patriots answered with seven of the next eight points.
“With as many youngsters as I have out on the court, a lot of the game is mental, and we just had too many mental mistakes in a row,” Cauley said. “It’s not about ability. I still think we have so much ability and talent. It’s just about exposure and experience and getting them used to those kinds of situations.”
Freshman outside hitter Josie Cauley led Ruston with 10 kills, Lily Bissell had nine, Emma Bissell eight, Ramsey seven and senior middle hitter Ava Crowe six. Baylor Cauley had 32 assists and four of Ruston’s nine aces.
“It’s a great opportunity that we’ll replicate when we see good teams in the postseason,” Cauley said. “I hope we get to do this again.”
