Louisiana senior Siena DeCambra was the talk of the collegiate volleyball world over the weekend, as the Baldwin alumna had a viral moment during senior night for the Ragin' Cajuns on Friday in a four-set victory over Georgia Southern.
DeCambra suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the year. But on senior night, she suited up with heavy protection on her knee.
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On match point, DeCambra was summoned for the final serve and delivered an ace, as well as one of the most emotional moments of the collegiate volleyball season.
"Just a crazy moment before I even got to go up to serve," DeCambra recalled to KHON2 sports director Rob DeMello. "I actually served the first point of the game and super nervous, but I didn't know I was going to be able to serve the last point. So my coach was like, 'Is your arm ready? Like, I'm going to put you in.' So I was like, 'Yeah, like, I'll be ready.'
"So, I just started warming up and then got in. Everybody was standing and cheering for me and once I served that ball, I thought it was out at first, so I was just standing there. And then the line judge said "in" and it was just a crazy moment. And so surreal."
DeCambra will graduate in December and intends to move home to Maui afterwards, with hopes of enrolling in beauty school while starting a youth volleyball coaching career back home.
With an overall record of 9-16 and 5-9 in Sun Belt play, Louisiana's season ended on Friday as the Ragin' Cajuns did not qualify for the conference tournament. But DeCambra's collegiate career, as well as the team's season, ended on the highest note under the cirumctances with her ace.
"Just definitely the people around you help you the most and support you and and just letting yourself know that even though tough times do happen, there is always a brighter side at the end," DeCambra said when asked about her biggest takeaway from playing volleyball collegiately. "And it definitely helped and did do that for me."