By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Ruston High used a heavy dose of tough serving to pull away from Haughton in straight sets Tuesday night, winning 25-17, 25-10, 25-12 to improve to 10-5 on the season. Haughton fell to 5-2 with its second loss of the year.
The Lady Bearcats trailed by as many as two points early in the first set before pulling away, and they never trailed in the third. Ruston finished with 20 aces, 25 kills, six blocks and 36 digs as a team, and 24 of the Lady Bearcats’ 75 points came on Haughton errors.
Senior setter Baylor Cauley ran the offense with 16 assists and added five aces. Freshman outside hitter Josie Cauley led Ruston with eight kills and also had four aces, while freshman outside hitter Lily Bissell added six kills and a team-high 10 digs. Junior middle hitter Addie Powell led all players with five blocks.
Ruston opened its largest run of the match in the second set, scoring seven straight points from 7-5 to 14-5 that included four consecutive aces from Josie Cauley. Haughton called a timeout at 12-5 in that set but could not slow the run, and Ruston closed it out 25-10. The Lady Bearcats opened the third set with a 3-0 run and led wire to wire, closing it out 25-12.
“I thought we did really well. I thought we executed really well,” Ruston High head coach Mandy Cauley said. “I would say the shining star of our gameplay tonight was that we had really tough serves. We were able to get on some really good runs by some tough servers, and everybody that came in from the bench did a really good job, and I’m proud of everyone.”
Cauley singled out Powell’s play at the net.
“She dominated at the net tonight,” Cauley said. “Addie had a fantastic weekend at Bearcat Brawl. She’s done a good job getting block touches and being a big presence in the middle, and it’s allowed us to make some adjustments and play with some other lineup opportunities, because she’s come in and done such a really good job.”
Prior to Tuesday’s match win, the Lady Bearcats went 4-1 at the Bearcat Brawl on Sept. 18-19 at the Ruston Sports Complex. Ruston opened the tournament with a 25-22, 26-24, 15-5 win over East Ascension and a 25-13, 25-21 win over Sam Houston. On the second day, the Lady Bearcats dropped the first set against Westlake before rallying for a 24-26, 25-15, 15-5 win, fell to Barbe 25-19, 25-22, and closed with a 25-22, 25-20 win over Prairieville.
“The Bearcat Brawl was great,” Cauley said. “First of all, it was well run. The courts stayed on time, which is meaningful to all the coaches, officials, parents and fans. We had a great turnout, and people complimented the facility and the hospitality suite. A huge thank you to everybody.”
Cauley said Ruston was inconsistent at times in serve receive but found ways to keep scoring.
“The way we played was really, really good,” Cauley said. “There were times when we were spotty on serve receive, but we hung in there and were able to capitalize with our offense. We were still able to generate points and move past the bad passes.”
Junior Bridget Crittenden came off the bench during the tournament and sparked a run of at least seven straight points.
“She came in and did phenomenal,” Cauley said. “We have girls that are hungry, and we have depth, and that’s a really positive thing to have when we’re competing every day in practice.”
The Lady Bearcats will get a bit of a breather on the varsity side as Thursday’s road matchup with Airline has been canceled. Ruston hosts Jackson Academy out of Mississippi on Monday, Sept. 28.
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