MONROE, La. – Propelled by an outstanding performance by senior Marcela Araya in the final home match of her career, the ULM volleyball team rallied through in the clutch to push the Warhawks past Appalachian State, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13), on Senior Sunday at the Fant Ewing Coliseum.
“The girls weren't going to lose,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “There was just a feeling about this week in general where I knew today was going to be one of those days and we were going to play as hard as we could. We had an emotional day but we controlled our emotions throughout the match.”
Trailing 5-9 to the Mountaineers (19-9, 9-9 Sun Belt) at the break of a decisive fifth set, ULM (9-22, 3-15) showed its poise by rallying to score 10 of the next 14 points on an impressive .375 hitting and capture the Warhawks third conference victory of the season.
The ULM offense controlled the tempo against a playoff bound Appalachian State squad throughout the match. The Warhawks hit .226 as a team with 10 blocks compared to the Mountaineers' .190 attack percentage and seven blocks.
Numerous players had career afternoons in the ULM triumph, starting with setter Bayleigh Hoffman who picked up her 10th double-double of the season. Not only did the freshman from York, Pa. outduel the Sun Belt's top setter, but Hoffman totaled a career-best 61 assists and four service aces to go along with 12 digs.
“Our freshmen have really grown up over the past two weeks,” Hiltz added. “We had Bayleigh outduel the best setter in the country today in terms of assists per set. She's still learning and the ceiling is unlimited for this group if they stick together. They're starting to understand this is a process and we're just getting started.”
Hope Pawlik dominated the attack all afternoon, making sure the Warhawks offense never stalled throughout the match. The sophomore outside hitter registered a season-best 20 kills, while adding five digs and four blocks.
Hadley Swartz set a new career-high with 21 digs on the afternoon. The sophomore from York, Pa. collected 14 kills and tied her season-high with three blocks.
Araya proved to be a hassle for the Mountaineers attack all match, amassing 40-digs for the second time this season. With her parents making the trip all the way from Costa Rica, Araya did not disappoint. Over the weekend, the libero racked up an impressive 66 digs to raise her average to 5.60 digs per set on the year.
In her last home match, senior Alannah Cullum recorded two kills on five swings (.400).
“Marcela and Alannah have been leading us for four years,” Hiltz said. “They've been giving the examples to everyone else on how to do things. They've set the way for our young group and they are the foundation. Everything we do from here on out is because of those two and what they've helped us establish. I couldn't be happier that we could get a win for them in their final home game.”
Taylor Zaeske excelled on both the offensive and defensive side of the net, accumulating 14 kills, six digs and one block to aid the Warhawks.
Jennifer McClendon played arguably the best-match of her young career in a ULM uniform. The freshman totaled 10 kills on a career-high .562 hitting and garnered three digs, two service aces and two blocks.
Once again Kaitlyn Shearer attested to be dominant on the block, earning five blocks and six kills for the Warhawks.
Despite dropping a tight first set, 21-25, ULM showed they were not going away easily in a back-and-forth second stanza. Down 19-21 late in the second set, the Warhawks strung together six of the next seven points to tie the match moving into intermission.
Knotted at 6-6 early in the third set, ULM took advantage of a Mountaineer attack error to go up 7-6. That proved to be a difference maker as the Warhawks never relinquished that lead en route to a 25-19 third set triumph.
Appalachian State retaliated with the equalizer to force a decisive fifth set. However, ULM demonstrated experience in the final stanza to come back and win late in the fifth set, which was clinched by a powerful kill from Pawlik.
The Warhawks will close out the season next weekend on the road when they travel to play South Alabama on Friday (6 p.m.) and UL-Lafayette on Sunday (12 p.m.).
