MONROE, La. - The ULM volleyball team played an intense
back-and-forth contest to force a five-set thriller and upset the defending Sun
Belt Conference West Division champions North Texas 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 25-23,
20-25, 15-13) Friday evening in the ULM Activity Center. With the win the
Warhawks remain undefeated on their home court and extend their home winning
streak to four in a row.
The victory comes on the heels of ULM's first Sun Belt win
since 2006 over UL-Lafayette on Tuesday, marking just the second time the
Warhawks have won back-to-back matches in league play since joining the
conference. The back-to-back wins in 2006 also came against UL-Lafayette and
North Texas. The Warhawks improve to 8-6 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt.
Junior Zuzana Markova picked up her third-straight
triple-double with a team-high 16 kills, 26 assists and 11 digs to move her
season total to nine. Sophomore Tetiana Suckach had another career-best performance
for the second match-straight, breaking her previous digs record of 16 she set
Tuesday with a ULM-best 20 digs and smashed a career-best 11 kills to earn her
first career double-double. Senior Meghan McCoy also earned a double-double
with 23 assists and 15 digs.
Two other Warhawks reached the double-digit plateau in kills
as junior Samantha Morse finished with 13 and sophomore Blanca Ocana had 11.
Freshman Marcela Urbina collected 19 digs while senior Lacey Dietlin
contributed 11.
Three North Texas players also earned double-doubles for the
contest as Shelley Morton had 13 kills and 19 digs, Eboni Godfrey had 18 kills
and 16 digs and Liz Powell collected 24 assists and 11 digs. Kayla Saey had a
match-best 33 assists.
ULM fell behind in the first set and brought the score back
within one 12-11 when the Mean Green scored five-straight points to grab a
17-11 advantage. The Warhawks put together back-to-back points only twice more
before North Texas ended the set with two kills by Morton and an attack error
25-18.
The Warhawks took advantage of multiple attack errors in the
second set and used kills by Morse and Sukach for two separate runs of three-
and four-consecutive points to double its lead early 10-5. A 12-8 run in favor
of North Texas slowly brought them back into the set and pushed the score to
18-17, eventually forcing a tie 22-22. Two more ties ensued before an attack
error and a final kill by Markova awarded ULM its first set win 26-24.
North Texas claimed an early 6-1 advantage in the third set
and commanded the lead for more than half the game as the Warhawks fought their
way back, using back-to-back kills by Markova and Morse to cap the effort and
fuel a three-point spree to even the score 18-18. The Mean Green pushed its
lead out to 23-21 when ULM snatched the set away with the four final points to
win 25-23.
ULM fell back again in the fourth set and was unable to
recover for the first half as North Texas used back-to-back kills by Morton and
Reasons to double its advantage 18-9. A four-point spree sparked by a Morse
kill improved the score to 22-16, but despite a final 4-3 run in favor of ULM
the Mean Green took the set 25-20.
The Warhawks jumped out to a four-point advantage 5-1 in the
deciding set after forcing multiple errors by the Mean Green. However, North
Texas hung on with a 12-8 run capped by kills by Reasons and Morton and a ULM
attack error to even the score for the first time 13-13. The Warhawks were
undeterred though and utilized a kill by Ocana and a final Mean Green attack
error to win the set 15-13 and the match.
The Warhawks look to extend their home winning streak
tomorrow evening when they host Denver at 6 p.m. in the ULM Activity Center.
