ARLINGTON, Texas -- ULM fell 3-1 at College Park Center on the campus of UT Arlington Friday night to open Sun Belt play. The Warhawks (4-13, 0-1 Sun Belt) and Mavericks (8-6, 1-0) battled in their first meeting as conference foes since 2005, when both teams were in the Southland.
Blanca Ocana picked up her 16th career double-double after hitting a match-high 16 kills and sweeping up 10 digs. Hadley Swartz tied for second-highest offensive tally in the match with 12 kills. Kayla Kane dished out 39 assists while Marcela Araya tallied a match-high 20 digs.
"Blanca came out fired up and carried us through. She was our go-to player tonight when we needed a big dig or a dig point. She had a solid all-around performance," head coach Patrick Hiltz said.
"I was also impressed with Alannah Cullum tonight. She made her presence known at the net. She was credited with only four blocks, but they were clean, right into her hands and went straight to the florr. She game to play and her blocking is going to be huge for us going forward."
The contest featured a third set that needed extra points to be decided. ULM erupted to a 17-11 lead before UTA used an 8-5 spurt to get within two and force a Warhawk timeout. After the meeting, the Warhawks and Mavs found themselves tied at 22-all. ULM had an opportunity for set point with a 24-23 advantage, but UTA quickly silenced the opportunity. The Mavs closed the set on a 4-1 burst to win 27-25 and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
"I give UTA a lot of credit. We were up 17-11 and they took a timeout. Out of the timeout, we tried to beat them 25-11 instead of letting things happen," Hiltz said. "It was a momtum game today, but we learned something. We need to stay the course and play wihtin ourselves and let the game play out. Yes, I'm disappointed that the third game got away and we lost the momentum."
ULM took an early lead in the match after taking the first set 25-21. Both sides traded points early, but after an 8-8 tie, ULM grabbed the lead on an Ocana kill. The Warhawks never lost the lead, despite facing ties at 17-all and 18-all. After 18-all, ULM took control of the set, finishing on a 7-3 run.
The second stanza opened much like the first, but this time after an 8-8 knot, it was the Mavericks' turn to go on a run that lasted six straight points. Down five at 20-15, the Warhawks got some of the momentum back and fought off set point at 24-20, but UTA evened the match at one set apiece after finding set point at 25-21.
UT Arlington used the momentum gained to take the fourth set 25-16 and the match 3-1.
The Warhawks remain on the road and return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Texas State.
