By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — The first high school volleyball match ever played inside the Thomas Assembly Center did not take long to settle.
Ruston High swept Episcopal School of Acadiana 25-19, 25-17, 25-21 on Saturday, closing out a two-win day that had opened with a four-set win over C.E. Byrd and moved the Lady Bearcats to 5-3 early in the season.
“Big thanks to (Louisiana Tech Head Coach) Scott Materra for putting this together and asking us to be part of it, and to ESA for making the trip up here,” Ruston High head coach Mandy Cauley said. “That was great volleyball. That was a really competitive match, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way we executed. Our passes were great. Our defense was great. Our blocking was great and our hitters were great. I’m just super proud of everybody.”
None of the three sets was decided by more than eight points, and the last was a four-point finish. Cauley pointed to freshman outside hitter Josie Cauley and senior middle hitter Jane Ramsey at the net, and to junior libero Ellie Williams behind it.
“[Josie] and Jane offensively. Defensively, Ellie,” Cauley said while she lauded her team. “Ellie was all over the place. Her passes were phenomenal. So everybody did something well today.
“Those are the two who had the most kills. Josie was really steady throughout the game and got us on some runs. But Ellie — Ellie’s defense and just grit, you can’t ask them to give you any more than they did. (Senior setter) Baylor (Cauley) did a great job of spreading out the offense and finding our hitters.”
Baylor Cauley ran the offense in both matches.
Earlier in the day, Ruston handled Byrd 25-15, 25-11, 22-25, 25-11, dropping the third set before shutting the fourth down.
“I thought we did a good job against Byrd,” Cauley said. “Byrd has gotten tremendously better at ball control, and they got us out of sorts in set three, but we were able to fight back and just kind of stay a little bit aggressive and offensive. I was pleased with how we played there as well.”
Ruston is back on the floor on the road Tuesday against Benton and then will be at home for the annual Bearcat Brawl.
“The whole team just did phenomenal, and I’m so proud of everybody,” Cauley said. “I’m just very pleased.”
