LAKE CHARLES, La. -- In dominating fashion, the ULM Volleyball team (4-6) earned its third and fourth shutout victories of the season on Friday when the Warhawks blanked both Prairie View A&M and Alcorn State, 3-0, in day one of the Cowgirl Classic from inside the Memorial Gym.
The back-to-back triumphs catapult the Warhawks record to 4-6 on the young season with only three nonconference matches remaining. Dominance
ULM 3, Prairie View A&M 0 - Game 9
To earn their fourth overall victory against Prairie View A&M, the Warhawks capitalized on a .311 offensive efficiency mark as they sailed to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-21) victory Friday morning.
"Good win,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “It was a much needed win. We seemed very relaxed until the third set when Prairie View started to push back and show some life on their side of the net. We started to forget our systems and made some very uncharacteristic errors. In the end we found our breath and were able to close out the match.”
Swartz finished with 11 kills on 23 swings for an efficient .348 attack percentage. She added seven digs as well for arguably her best performance of the season to date. Fellow sophomore teammate, Hope Pawlik was just as stellar from the outside hitting .350 with nine kills on 20 attacks.
ULM asserted its presence early on by jumping out to a 6-1 lead before pulling away midway through the first stanza. The team made it 20-10 when senior Alannah Cullum registered back-to-back service aces to extend the Warhawks' biggest lead of the season before putting the first set to rest.
Over the next two sets, ULM erased any thought of a comeback by asserting a solid lead early on in each stanza. Swartz ended all three sets with a kill to clinch each stanza.
“Our middles were strong all match. We felt we had an advantage there and we were able to exploit the matchup. In order to run the middles on offense we have to pass well,” Hiltz uttered. “We executed well when it came to actually playing the ball. We can probably do a better job mentally of maintaining focus, communication and energy. That will be our focus moving forward."
Bouncing back from an injury sustained Wednesday, Bayleigh Hoffman showed resiliency by posting her third career double-double with 18 assists and 10 digs. Freshman counterpart Mary Anselmo accounted for 18 assists of her own and six digs.
Both senior leaders played near flawless matches during the team's third win. Marcela Araya chipped in with 14 digs and four assists from the libero position, while Cullum had a match-high .714 offensive percentage on six kills, falling just shy of her career efficiency mark.
ULM 3, Alcorn State 0 - Game 10
The Warhawks improve to 13-0 all-time versus Alcorn State following an overpowering, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-18), triumph late Friday afternoon.
“Every win for us is a welcome thing,” Hiltz added. “However, we are also trying to get better in everything we do with every set we play. I didn't feel like we were ready to play in set one. We were struggling to find our focus. Our attention to detail was lacking. And we were swinging recklessly into the net and their block.”
Newcomer Taylor Zaeske set new offensive career highs in kills and attack percentage during the match. The sophomore accumulated 15 kills on 28 swings with only three errors for a match-high .429 efficiency mark.
The Warhawks hopped on the board quick with 13 kills during a 25-18 set one success before cruising to eight point and seven point landslides in the final two stanzas.
“I have to give credit to Taylor for leading the way offensively in set two and really getting the team back on track,” Hiltz continued. “From there, our serving got better and things seemed to work a bit more smoothly for us. We're going to have to play better tomorrow in order to keep our winning streak going."
Three freshmen played an integral role in the win. Jennifer McClendon recorded a career-high eight kills and four service aces. Anselmo and Hoffman assisted on 19 and 18 of the team's 45 kills, respectively.
Araya posted 23 digs despite only playing three sets, the fifth time she's topped 20 digs on the season. Pawlik was consistent as usual, adding eight kills and two blocks to the cause. Junior transfer Kimberlie Alvarado led the team with three blocks to go with four kills and four digs.
ULM returns to the courts for another doubleheader tomorrow. First serve is set for 9:00 a.m. against Tennessee Tech inside the Memorial Gym.
Be sure to follow the team socially on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date with the latest news, scores and highlights from the Warhawks throughout the season.
