Ladies Set To Host Country Cajun Classic As Season Begins

The Gold Dome will host 14 matches this weekend.

Posted: Aug 31, 2023

Shreveport – The Centenary volleyball program welcomes six schools to town this weekend for a two-day, 14-match tournament dubbed the "Country Cajun Classic" at the Gold Dome.

The six schools participating alongside the Ladies are Belhaven University, Howard Payne University, Millsaps College, Rhodes College, McMurry University, and Texas A&M University-Texarkana. The visitors will enjoy a Mardi-Gras themed tournament and hospitality that is second to none from Centenary head coach Ashley McDonough the athletics staff. Matches will be conducted simultaneously in the Gold Dome in adjacent courts divided by a net.

Live video and live stats will be available for all 14 matches of the weekend event. Links are available at www.GoCentenary.com

The Ladies' season opener is set for Noon on Friday against Millsaps and they close the day against Howard Payne at 5 p.m. Centenary will then play the final two games of the tournament on Saturday – at 4 p.m. against Texas A&M-Texarkana and 6:30 p.m. versus Belhaven.

Rhodes faces Belhaven in the tournament opener on Friday at 10 a.m. McMurry faces Howard Payne at Noon on court two as the Ladies battle with Millsaps on the adjacent court.

Centenary is scheduled to play 30 regular-season matches this season as the Ladies will play 13 matches at home and 17 road/neutral contests and are scheduled to play 16 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference matches.

McDonough, who is just 10 wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history, is also just seven wins away from 100 career wins covering her time at Centenary and previous stops at Knox College in Illinois.

Centenary's returnees include junior RS Jaylin St. Martin (New Orleans, La.), junior OH/DS Kiara Liedy (Sugar Land, Texas), sophomore S Meadow Smith (Mansfield, Texas), senior MB/OH Robin Lemelle (Liberty, Texas), and junior MB Elizabeth Canady (League City, Texas), junior DS Allana Scott-Daniels (Spring, Texas), sophomore DS/L Daly Nagot (Benton, La.), and senior OH Madison Schonberg (Harbor City, Calif.). Senior OH/RS April Jones (Longview, Texas) has joined the Ladies this season.

The Ladies' crop of rookies are RS/S Victoria Larson (Royse City, Texas), S/DS Hannah Dimmel (Navasota, Texas), UT Yadneli Molina (Vinton, La.), S Hailey Hill (La Grange, Texas), OH/DS Mackenzie Haley (Orange, Texas), MB/OH Reign McArthur, RS Maia Kraft (Galveston, Texas), MB Bailee Henderson (Monroe, La.), and UT Kahlan Johnson (Haughton, La.).

The 2023 SCAC Volleyball Championship is scheduled for Nov. 10-11 in Georgetown, Texas and hosted by Southwestern University.

Complete Country Cajun Classic Schedule:

Friday, Sept. 1:

Court one:

10 AM – Rhodes vs. Belhaven

NOON – Millsaps vs. Centenary

3 PM – Rhodes vs. McMurry

5 PM – Howard Payne vs. Centenary

Court two:

NOON – McMurry vs. Howard Payne

2 PM – Texas A&M-Texarkana vs. Belhaven

4 PM – Texas A&M-Texarkana vs. Millsaps