LPJ Sports Report
RUSTON, La. — Ruston High will host 24 volleyball teams from across Louisiana this weekend at the Bearcat Brawl, a two-day tournament that opens Friday afternoon and runs through Saturday at the Ruston Sports Complex.
Matches begin at 4 p.m. Friday and continue on the hour through 8 p.m. across six courts at the complex, located at 2103 Champions Way. Saturday play starts at 9 a.m. and wraps up with 2 p.m. matches.
For Ruston High head coach Mandy Cauley, the event has become as much a community weekend as a tournament.
“Bearcat Brawl is super important because it leaves a volleyball footprint in our community,” Cauley said. “It brings teams from all over the state to Ruston for the weekend, and it increases the level of play in the gym and gives everybody a chance to play at a faster pace at a high level.”
The field has expanded sharply since the tournament’s first year.
“The very first Bearcat Brawl had six teams, and we have grown to 24 teams this year,” Cauley said.
Along with Ruston, the field includes Airline, Barbe, Benton, Byrd, Captain Shreve, Denham Springs, Fontainebleau, Neville, Newman, Northlake Christian, Northwood, Parkview Baptist, Parkway, Ponchatoula, Prairieville, Sam Houston, St. Louis Catholic, Sulphur, West Ouachita and Westlake, among others.
The Lady Bearcats are scheduled for five matches. Ruston opens Friday at 5 p.m. and returns at 7 p.m., then plays at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. All five Ruston matches are set for Court 2.
Between matches, the tournament will again feature an animal adoption station run in partnership with the local animal shelter.
“We look forward to the animal adoption station, where we partner with the Ruston animal shelter and make the girls smile when they see puppies and hopefully get some animals adopted,” Cauley said. “It’s just a really fun time for our community to come watch the team play and watch more than one match at a time.”
With six courts running at once, spectators can take in several matches in a single trip — part of what Cauley said makes the weekend worth building around.
See full schedule by clicking the link below.
