ATLANTA, Ga. – A day after completing its first conference sweep since 2011, the ULM volleyball team was unable to make it two in a row as the Warhawks dropped a 3-1 (17-25, 20-25, 27-25, 23-25) decision to Georgia State Saturday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
“We played a little tired tonight,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “Back-to-back matches on top of getting into town at 2:30 a.m. doesn't help. Got to give credit to Georgia State though, they played hard all night. They served us tough and they're hitting kept us guessing and off-balance all match.”
The ULM (8-21, 2-14) offense featured two players in double-digits. Hadley Swartz led the attack with 14 kills on an efficient .324 hitting percentage. The sophomore just missed a double-double as Swartz tallied nine digs and two assists.
Taylor Zaeske registered 11 kills on .292 hitting to go along with seven digs from the outside. Kaitlyn Shearer collected eight kills on 20 swings and four digs.
Araya totaled 19 digs to lead the team and move her total to 544 digs on the year, only six digs shy of breaking her previous record for most digs (549) in a single season.
Bayleigh Hoffman assisted on 34 of the team's 49 kills. The freshman setter also racked up five digs and an ace. Alannah Cullum garnered four kills, two aces, two digs and a block.
Hope Pawlik recorded six kills and five digs, while Jennifer McClendon amassed five kills and a block.
The Panthers (9-16, 7-9 Sun Belt) got off to a quick 2-0 start after taking the first two sets of the match.
The Warhawks did not go down with a fight as the team rallied from a match point, 24-21, deficit late in the third set. ULM forced a fourth set after scoring six of the next seven points to take the stanza, 27-25.
“I'm extremely pleased with the amount of heart and fight that we showed tonight,” Hiltz added. “We battled and showed a lot fire and energy. The fact that we never quit in the third set, never gave up and found a way to win tells me a lot about the character this group of players has.”
The fourth set involved a back-and-forth battle late into the set, however the Panthers were able to clinch the triumph over ULM with a 25-23 fourth stanza win.
The Warhawks return home for a 6 p.m. showdown against Arkansas State Friday at the Fant Ewing Coliseum.
“Unfortunately, now we have to watch the scoreboard and hope for some help to stay alive for the conference tournament,” Hiltz said. “Hopefully we still have an opportunity come next weekend at home.
