MONROE, La. - The ULM volleyball team's final match of the
2011 season was a senior affair as graduating seniors Mahogany Dilonga, Meghan
McCoy and Lacey Dietlin led the Warhawks in their 3-0 loss (15-25, 20-25,
11-25) to Sun Belt Conference West Division Champion Arkansas State Sunday in
the ULM Activity Center.
Dilonga, McCoy and Dietlin were honored for Senior Night following
ULM's final home match of the season in which all three players played crucial
roles. Dilonga lead the attack with eight kills and McCoy helped spearhead the
offense with a ULM-best 13 assists. Dietlin had key digs on defense to total
seven for the contest.
Marcela Urbina led the Warhawks in digs with 11 for the
night while Tetiana Sukach collected 10. Dilonga was also solid at the net with
four blocks while Zuzana Markova had five blocks including one solo. ULM
out-blocked Arkansas State 7.5 to 4.0.
Two Red Wolves collected double-doubles for the match as
Allison Kearney finished with a match-high 32 assists and 15 digs while Megan
Baska had 10 assists and 18 digs. Amanda Chaparro also picked up 12 digs while
Jasmine Terry was the lone player to reach double-digits in kills with 15.
The first set stayed even until a six-point streak fueled by
three service aces allowed Arkansas State (21-9, 12-4 SBC) to grab a 10-4 lead.
The Warhawks (10-16, 4-12 SBC) put together back-to-back points at the 18-13
mark with an error and McCoy service ace, but we unable to do that again during
a 10-7 run which gave the Red Wolves a 23-15 advantage. Two final points ended
the game 25-15.
The Warhawks stayed on the Red Wolves' heels in the second
set 11-9 before they utilized another spree of four-consecutive points to take
a 15-9 advantage. ULM fought back to within two points twice during a 9-6 run
until the 21-18 mark when back-to-back attack errors allowed it to trail by
just a point 21-20. However, Arkansas State used two kills by Terry during a
four-point spree to claim the set 25-20.
The Red Wolves nearly doubled their lead in the beginning of
the third set 9-5 as the Warhawks struggled to find their rhythm, subsequently
allowing six-straight points to fall back further 15-5. A kill by Blanca Ocana
and an Arkansas State attack error helped ULM maintain the gap 19-9, but it managed
just two more points during a final 6-2 run to give the Red Wolves the game
25-11 and the match.
With a loss to Arkansas State the ULM volleyball team ends
what was a benchmark season in 2011. The Warhawks claimed their first 10-win
season since 2005 and just their second in 21 years, while picking up a
program-record four Sun Belt wins. ULM also snapped an 83-match losing skid in
league play with a win over rival UL-Lafayette.
Warhawks Markova and Urbina also earned the program's first-ever
player of the week awards, with Markova being named the American Volleyball
Scouting Report's Global Player of the Week. Urbina also picked up ULM's
first-ever Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors in
back-to-back weeks.
