SIESTA KEY, Fla. - The ULM volleyball team proved its skills
on the sand court and made a statement at the Fourth Annual Fiesta on Siesta Key
Sand Volleyball Tournament Apr. 14 by finishing fifth overall against 23 teams,
most of which are NCAA sand volleyball
programs.
The Warhawks compiled 119 points in the Fiesta Division which
featured schools that are currently sponsored as a NCAA sport. The overall finishes
were determined by each school's top three team results in pool play. When
accounting for average points scored per school ULM was second only to FSU,
which had five teams competing, with a 39.67 average.
"I'm really happy with our performance down in Siesta Key,"
said head coach Ernest Vasquez. "I'd be really excited to see how we would've done
if we played in a few tournaments prior to that one, since it was our first and
basically the end of the season for everyone else.
"If we were more seasoned in tournament play it would be interesting
to see how much better we would have performed, and we already played very
well."
The event was one of the largest in the history of NCAA
competition, which included 116 two-man teams that participated in pool play.
Each match consisted of one set, and the first team to 21 points was the
winner.
Two Warhawk duos finished in the top-10 of the enormous
field, led by Zuzana Markova and Tetiana Sukach who tied for ninth overall and
was one of 25 teams in the playoffs after going 5-0 in pool play. They defeated
pairs from Tulane, College of Charleston, UCF and Florida Atlantic with a 6.25
point average margin of victory.
Blanca Ocana and Marcela Araya Urbina also tied for ninth after
ending 4-2 overall, with one of those losses coming against eventual champions
Aurora Newgard and Brittany Tiegs of FSU. Their most dominant victory was a
21-3 thrashing of a team from Jacksonville.
Samantha Morse and Iren Marinova also finished in the top-35
of the field after going 2-4, with all of their losses coming by just a two
point margin, to tie for 31st.
The ULM volleyball team hosts its second annual Bayou Sand
Classic this Saturday as part of Spring Fever Week. The Warhawks will play host
to Nicholls State and Stephen F. Austin.
