Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Related News

ULM Volleyball Drops Sun Belt Home Opener 3-1 to Troy

ULM Volleyball Drops Sun Belt Home Opener 3-1 to Troy

Volleyball Oct 09
MONROE, La. ? The ULM volleyball team dropped its Sun Belt home opener 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22) to Troy Thursday night in the ULM Activity Center. The Warhawks fell behind early in the match, but fought back behind the strength of a season-high 13 service aces.

Troy (10-11, 1-5 Sun Belt) setter Megan Henderson tallied a match-high 48 assists to go along with 14 digs en route to a double-double. ULM (1-18, 0-5) had a trio of front line players accumulate 10 kills as Mahogany Dilonga, Mari O'Neal and Stephanie Wardach each reached the double-figure plateau. Johanna Spreen paced the Warhawks behind the service line with a season-high five aces.
 
“We are starting to do the little things right,” head coach John Schmidt said. “We are still not consistent enough as a team. This was our best played match of the year, even though the score didn't show.”
 
The teams battled back and forth in set one to a 10-10 tie before the Trojans jumped out to a 15-11 lead thanks to back-to-back kills by Meghan Gilroy. Troy ended the set on a 6-3 run and hit .419 as a team taking the opening frame 25-18.
 
ULM jumped out to an early lead 4-1 in set two off a trio of Trojan attacking errors. Troy battled back to tie the set at 15-15, but the Warhawks regained the lead, 19-18, on back-to-back aces by Spreen. Just as they did in the opening set, Troy ended the second set on a big run (5-1) to take a 2-0 lead.
 
“We focus on attacking the opponent through serving tonight,” Schmidt said. “Serving is our first line of defense. It puts the opponent out of line offensively and keeps us in the match. Even when we aren't doing things right, service aces keeps us in the match.”
 
ULM fought back in set three and took an early 6-3 lead. The teams traded points through the middle portion of the frame before a pair of Meghan McCoy service aces gave the Warhawks a 15-9 lead. ULM scored 10 of the final 16 points in the set keeping the match alive and forcing a forth set.
 
The Trojans jumped up early in the fourth set, but the Warhawks fought back and tied the set at 16-16. Both teams would go point-for-point until the Trojans were able to pull away late in the set thanks to three Gilroy kills.
 
The Warhawks will look to regroup Sunday afternoon when the host South Alabama (7-6, 1-5) at 1 p.m. in the ULM Activity Center. The team will host a free clinic following the match for area children.
Print Friendly Version