LAKE CHARLES, La. -- ULM used double-doubles from senior Blanca Ocana (20 kills, 12 digs) and freshman Hadley Swartz (18 kills, 12 digs) to down McNeese State in four sets on its home court to conclude play Friday afternoon in the Big Daddy's Invitational.
With the victory, the Warhawks snapped a four-match skid.
Kaitlyn Shearer nailed 12 kills while hitting at a .500 clip for the match. Katie Harrington added 53 assists in the contest.
The match began with a very offensive first set with both teams hitting at over .400. After the Cowgirls took a 16-15 lead, the Warhawks began a set-ending rally where they would outscore their longtime foes 10-6 and take the opening stanza 25-22. McNeese State never led by more than one in the first set.
The second set featured more offense from ULM, highlighted by Shearer, who nailed seven kills on as many attempts without any errors in the first two sets. The Warhawks never trailed in the frame and the score was only tied once at 1-1.
“Kaitlyn is playing lights out today. I hope that is going to continue. She changed positions and sometimes, that's tough to do, but she was a beast out there today,” Head Coach Patrick Hiltz said.
The Cowgirls forced a fourth set after taking the third 26-24. They received a key kill and a key block after tying up the stanza at 24-all to close out the match. In the frame, ULM was down 17-12 but after a time out, the Warhawks rallied and outscored the Cowgirls 12-9 the rest of the way.
While not as offensive for either side, the fourth set was still just as competitive. ULM fought off several big McNeese rallies before Swartz picked up her 18th kill of the match (and 25th on the day) to seal the victory for the Warhawks.
“We passed really well. When we are serve/receiving like we were especially in the first couple games, it allows our setters to run the offense. Our offense is such that it's going to put people in position to have those kinds of numbers. We hit .455 in the first game and McNeese hit .478. That is like men's volleyball. We had long rallies go our way to give us the edge, but the rest of the way it was pass-set-kill for both sides. It was a lot of fun to be part of that the first couple games,” Hiltz said.
Ocana's double-double was the 15th of her career. Hiltz moved Ocana back to the outside after injuries forced him to use her as a setter.
“I think it's important to play in a position that I'm going to play for the rest of the year, but I understand I have to play other roles to help my teammates. I think experience at setter and being able to play other positions helps the team,” Ocana said. “I want to emphasize the work of my teammates. Our middle blockers are doing a great job getting the opponent to leave me alone because now I have the vision to go and see where my hit will land. My setter (Katie Harrington) has also been working very hard and I think her setting is getting better.”
Swartz's 18 kills established a new career-best as well as her second double-double.
“It's always fun to be involved everywhere in the play all the time and have that mentality where you want the ball and can go after it. It helps when we have our passes down,” Swartz said.
ULM returns to the court tomorrow at 9 a.m. against Southern Miss and again at 2 p.m. against Prairie View A&M.
For more updates on ULM Volleyball, follow the Warhawks on Twitter at @ULM_VB.
