LAFAYETTE, La. -- ULM concluded its 15-match road trip Wednesday night with a 3-0 loss at in-state rival UL-Lafayette Wednesday night in the Earl K. Long Gym.
Junior libero Marcela Araya recorded a match-high 15 digs, making her the fifth player in ULM history to reach the 1,000-dig threshold (now at 1,004).
Not to be missed, the Warhawks (4-15, 0-3 Sun Belt) received double-digit kill performances from senior outside hitter Blanca Ocana (14) and freshman outside hitter Hadley Swartz (10). Junior setter Kayla Kane notched her first ULM-career double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs.
"Blanca played well. She took big swings and played fearlessly most of the match," head coach Patrick Hiltz said.
UL-Lafayette (11-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) crept to an early 12-9 lead in the opening set but after Hiltz used a timeout, ULM used an 11-8 spurt to tie the set at 20 apiece. At 21-20, ULM grabbed its first lead since 6-5. After that point, the teams battled back and forth to four more ties late in the set, but the Ragin' Cajuns scored the final two points of the set and won 26-24.
"We played well in the first set, really battled with them. Started off well in the second set. Once they got some separation in the second set, instead of fighting back like we did in the first, we crumbled.," Hiltz said.
"We couldn't stop their right side attack. Their main hitter had a quiet night but two other players went off for big numbers. We have to be able to keep teams from having multiple hitters have big nights against us."
ULL and ULM battled in the early going of the second set and were knotted at 11-all. Despite the Warhawks' best efforts, the Ragin' Cajuns closed out the frame on a 14-6 rally after the stalemate.
In the third set, ULM suffered a similar fate, but fell 25-16.
"Overall we need to find a greater sense of urgency going forward or we will dig ourselves too big of a hole to climb out of," Hiltz added.
The Warhawks return to action Friday at 7 p.m. against UALR. The match will be played in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Admission is free.
