By Kyle Roberts
First set. Twenty-third point.
And with a kill by senior Rilee Atwood, sophomore setter/outside hitter Baylor Cauley recorded her 1,000th career assist for the Ruston High Lady Bearcats in the team’s sweep over Ouachita by final scores of 25-14, 25-14, and 25-9.
“Baylor knew coming into this season that she wanted to accomplish this,” Lady Bearcat Head Coach Mandy Cauley said. “She’s been pushing herself to reach these kinds of personal goals, and I was happy she did that in front of the home crowd and that her team was so gracious in their celebrations for her. Everybody is proud of Baylor and what she’s done — and the fact that she did this as a sophomore is exciting for the future of the program.”
Cauley added eight aces and six kills to her 13 assists on the night.
“It means a lot because it’s what I’ve worked for,” Baylor Cauley said. “It’s all coming together on the court now.”
Even more impressive is that Baylor is no longer the only setter on the team, which is where she played her entire time last season. This year, she is sharing the setter position with junior Laia Canovas and is seeing time at the outside hitter position, as well.
“It’s definitely different from last year,” Baylor Cauley said of her new role. “There’s definitely a lot less pressure because I’m not the only young one, and having Laia makes it a lot more fun.”
The Lady Bearcats put together a 6-0 run to pull away from Ouachita after the Lady Lions crept close in the first set to take a 12-5 lead and did not show any signs of slowing down for the rest of the night.
Juniors Courtney Harris, Camille Smith and Kate Williams all were able to see a good amount of playing time in the second and third sets after the Lady Bearcats built a comfortable match lead.
“I thought we did a good job of playing what I believe is our level of play,” Mandy Cauley said. “The passes were great, our serve/receive was great, and we were able to spread out the offense and give everybody more opportunities and build their confidence. That’s valuable going into tougher matches that we’ll have in the the next week. I’ve been trying to get more players off the bench and utilize them to build their confidence.”
Sophomore Ava Crowe led all players with nine kills on the night, while senior Harper Cauley added five. Canovas added 12 assists, while senior Mariah White had five digs.
Ruston returns to action Monday, Sept. 30, on the road at Haughton.
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