University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Louisiana
10/29/2026 10:54:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss (14-7, 5-5 Sun Belt) heads to Lafayette for a two-match conference series against Louisiana (11-12, 6-4 Sun Belt). The Golden Eagles and Ragin' Cajuns open play at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at E.K. Long Gym, with the series finale set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Match Details
Friday, Oct. 30 – 6 p.m. CT & Saturday, Oct. 31 – 2 p.m. CT
E.K. Long Gym – Lafayette, La.
Stream on ESPN+ – smttt.info/espnVB
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast – Match 1 (smttt.info/UL-stats), Match 2 (smttt.info/UL-stats2)
Last Time Out
Southern Miss lost a pair of matches during its home series with Arkansas State, dropping a five-set match Thursday before falling in straight sets Friday. The Golden Eagles rallied from two sets down in the opener, but the Red Wolves edged them 15-12 in the deciding set. Southern Miss finished with a season-high 89 digs and 59 kills, led by Elly Stewart's season-best 17 kills and 21.5 points. Sadie McAda added 10 kills and 15 digs for her seventh straight double-double, while Allie Hazelwood recorded 43 assists.
Arkansas State took Friday's rematch in three sets, limiting Southern Miss to 21 kills. McAda led the Golden Eagles with six kills and 13 digs, and Emily Davis added five kills. Across the two matches, Southern Miss showed its defensive range but will look to cut down on errors: it committed 18 service errors and 36 attack errors in Thursday's match.
Through the first five weeks of Sun Belt play, Southern Miss is among the league leaders in kills per set, assists per set, digs per set, and aces per set. During that time, the Golden Eagles' per-set averages rank fourth with 13.34 kills, second with 12.41 assists, first with 17.88 digs, and fourth with 1.63 aces.
Opponent Scout
Louisiana enters the series at 11-12 overall and 6-4 in Sun Belt play after splitting a road series with App State. The Ragin' Cajuns won Friday's opener in four sets before App State answered with a three-set win Saturday, holding Louisiana to a season-low .096 hitting percentage.
Outside hitter Lolo Lambert paces the Ragin' Cajuns' offense with 3.35 kills per set and is followed by opposite hitter Sarah Schnell, who averages 2.87. Setters Rhyan Miciotto and Ryleigh Garis facilitate the offense with averages of 5.80 and 4.13 assists per set, respectively, while libero Kennedy Gustafson anchors the back row with 3.95 digs per set. Middle blockers Emily Williams and Lindsey Henry have been Louisiana's top defenders at the net this season, averaging 1.10 and 0.88 blocks per set, respectively.
Southern Miss trails in the all-time series 15-27 but has won the past three meetings, including a series sweep over UL in Hattiesburg last season. The Golden Eagles beat the Ragin' Cajuns in straight sets on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, and took Match two by a score of 3-1 on Oct. 11.
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