By T. Scott Boatright
Playing in the opening round of the Division I volleyball playoffs, the Ruston Bearcats aced their first postseason test Wednesday night by defeating 25th-seeded Live Oak in straight sets — 25-15, 25-15, 25-13.
Ruston dominated both service lines, dishing up 15 service aces while taking advantage of a plethora of service errors by the Eagles from Denham Springs.
In the opening game, it was a service ace by freshman Josie Cauley, daughter of RHS coach Mandy Cauley, that sparked a 9-0 run that allowed the Bearcats to move out to a 18–9 advantage before Live Oak finally added another point on its side of the scoreboard.
“(Live Oak) gave us a lot of points in the first set and we were able to capitalize on those missed serves,” said RHS coach Mandy Cauley. “We’ve been there. It’s not a fun place to be. But we were on the other side of it tonight.
“”I thought we served really well and I thought we passed really well. Every team’s going to have a couple of errors here and there but I feel like we controlled the tempo of the match from start to finish.”
Baylor Cauley led Ruston with seven service aces while Bridget Crittenden added four, Lilly Bissel chipped in with two and Ellie Williams and Ava Madden recorded on each.’
In the second game, Ruston built as much as a 8-2 lead before the Eagles went on a 6-1 eun of their own that forced Cauley to call a timeout and give her team the opportunity for a mental reset.
“I think they knew we shouldn’t be neck and neck and (the Bearcats) decided to just put their foot on the gas and play well,” Cauley said about calling the timeout at that point. “During those timeouts, a lot of times we just talk about what’s working well for us. And I’ll let them tell me what’s working well for us so that they are processing and thinking through what’s working on our side of the court more than I’m telling them.
“And, I’ve learned to listen more than talk sometimes. It helps for them to process their emotions and what’s happening out on the court so that they can make the changes. They tend to respond to that better than me just barking orders at them. I’ve learned that over the years. So they were able to talk to each other really well. I feel like Baylor was really the hype person and the leader tonight. She celebrated and I felt like she led with passion and enthusiasm tonight.”
After the timeout, Ruston came out with a quick score on an Addie Powell kill before Live Oak quickly battled back and took their first and only lead of the night before a pair of emphatic kills by Ava Crowe pushed the Bearcats’ advantage to 17-12.
Ruston ended the second game with a dink kill by Baylor Cauley, a power kill by Josie Cauley and a service ace by Bridget Crittenden.
Mandy Cauley credited Crowe for energizing the Bearcats in that second game.
“She did great tonight — Ava did phenomenal,” Cauley said. “Ava’s been very versatile this season and I think that she shined tonight.”
Ruston dominated the final game, which ended with a walk-off blocked shot by Baylor Cauley.
Josie Cauley led the Bearcats with 11 kills, but Mandy Caulty said all of her ninth players (Lily Bissell, Emma Bissell, Reese Pyles and Bess Cotton are the others) for playing key roles in the win.
“Our freshmen are not normal freshmen,” Cauley said. “They’re really special. All of them. They love each other. They had fun out on the court tonight, so I don’t feel like nerves got the best of them. What I kept saying to them, and we’ve been repeating this mantra, these four sentences over and over — ‘We belong in the room. We have a seat at the table. We’ve put in the work. And we’re a great team.’
“And so, I just wanted them to believe that, and so we’ve been saying it over and over and I think they bought into that.”
Crowe added six kills for the Bearcats, who also got four from Lily Bissell and two each from Addie Powell and Jane Ramsey.
Ruston will host No. 9 Chalmette Saturday, Nov. 7, at 12 p.m.
