MONROE, La. -- ULM rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Troy 3-2 Saturday afternoon inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum. It was the Warhawks (6-23, 2-11 Sun Belt) first-ever win over the Trojans (9-18, 4-9 Sun Belt) since the teams began facing each other in 2009.
“We talked about making it a long game and playing long points. What the team is beginning to realize is that when they make terminal errors, it really hurts us doubly. Against a team like Troy, we wanted to create some long points,” ULM head coach Patrick Hiltz said.
Offensively, three Warhawk players recorded double-doubles. Hadley Swartz recorded a career-high 29 kills on a new school record 75 attacks and 14 digs for her fifth career double-double while Hope Pawlik had a career-best 22 kills and 12 digs. Kayla Kane chipped in 35 assists and a ULM career-best 16 digs.
“Hope and Hadley had an unbelievable match. I can't say enough about them. They are great kids and it will be nice to have them for three more years,” Hiltz said.
“It's a lot of work, but it's still so much fun. It's the game. Outside hitters see a lot of balls and you do what you can to make it work,” Swartz said.
During the match, Pawlik became the second true freshman to record 200-plus kills in a season since 2009, joining Swartz. It is also the first time since 2011 ULM has had two players with 200 or more kills.
Defensively, Marcela Araya collected a career-high 46 digs, establishing a new ULM record for a five-set match and a new Sun Belt record.
“That's what she expects of herself. I'd say that is what I expect from her, but I'll take what I can get from her, she's a fantastic player. She doesn't care about numbers, she just wants to win,” Hiltz said.
The match was a competitive battle throughout, seeing 32 tie scores and 13 lead changes.
Troy took control in the opening frame, getting out to a 17-12 advantage. ULM then took off on a 4-0 run to make it 17-16 and forced a Trojan timeout. Out of the break, the Warhawks stayed close but Troy took the set, 25-22.
The second set needed extra points to be decided. ULM started with a lead but soon Troy knotted things up at 14-all. From that point, the Trojans remained in control until the Warhawks tied the set at 24-all to keep the set alive. Troy called timeout down 25-24 and responded well out of it, using a 3-0 run to close the stanza and head into the locker room up 2-0.
“In the first two sets, we made too many errors and we talked about it in the break. We saw that we were winning the long points so in the third, fourth and fifth sets, we had a combined five attacking errors, and that's unbelievable,” Hiltz said.
The Trojans opened the third set with a 7-2 lead, but a 9-4 Warhawk spurt drew the set even at 11. Later, Troy regained the lead and led by as much as two at 20-18. However, ULM used a 3-0 rally a few points later and grabbing a 23-22 lead on a kill by Pawlik. The Warhawks took their first set in 24 straight sets after firing off two of the final three points.
The momentum carried into the fourth set once the teams got their footing. ULM led 7-5 but a 6-1 Troy rally put the visitors ahead 11-8. Hiltz used his first timeout of the set, and the Warhawks responded with a 5-1 spurt of their own to know things up at 13. ULM remained on top by four and led 21-17. The Trojans used their second timeout at that point and tied the set at 21-all. Troy eventually got on top 24-23 and ULM fought off match point with a Pawlik kill. Alannah Cullum also put away a Trojan chance to take the match at 25-24. ULM closed the set at 28-26 on a Swartz kill and block alongside Maria Garcia.
ULM controlled the entire fifth set and took the decider 15-11.
The Warhawks remain home for a Wednesday night contest against UL-Lafayette. First serve is at 7 p.m. from Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
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