TROY, Ala. – The ULM volleyball squad had five attackers with at least four kills but was swept (25-17, 25-14, 25-21) Friday night by Troy inside Trojan Arena.
“Obviously not what we wanted to happen tonight,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “I guess if there is a silver lining, it was the play of some of our bench players. 'H' (Ana Ribeiro) played a strong match, Kim (Alvarado) was lights out for us at the net, and Sarah (Woods) came in and was aggressive with her attacking at the net. I also need to point out Taylor (Zaeske). Her passing was spot on tonight. We both know she can do better at the net but her intensity was present all night and her backrow play was stellar.”
ULM (11-9, 2-4 SBC) began the match with three straight errors to quickly fall in a three-point hole. The Warhawks scored three in a row later in the set on three Trojan errors to cut the Troy (9-11, 3-4 SBC) lead to one at 8-7. Troy responded when leading 11-9 by scoring seven in a row on four ULM errors and one kill each from Leah Causey, Sara Landis and Symone Shaw to put the set out of reach at 18-9.
The Warhawks fought back later in the opening stanza by scoring four in a row to make it 22-16 with the help of one kill apiece from Ana Ribeiro and Taylor Zaeske, but the Trojans closed the set by scoring three of the next four with Karissa Carney capping it off with an ace.
Junior Hope Pawlik started the second set with a bang by smashing a kill before Troy punched back by pushing seven of the next eight points to force the Warhawks to play from behind once again. ULM was never able to regain the lead as Troy put together three three-point runs and one four-point run to take the set 25-14.
The third set was tied at four before Troy's Blair Winston sparked four straight Trojan points with a kill. The two sides traded three-point runs later in the set to make it 13-8 in Troy's favor. Senior Kimberlie Alvarado slammed a kill and Zaeske recorded a service ace to save two match points at 24-21. Troy ended the match on the next point on a kill from Shaw.
Pawlik and Alvarado (.714) finished with five kills while Ribeiro, freshman Sarah Woods and Zaeske had four. Sophomore Bayleigh Hoffman nearly missed a double-double with 17 assists and nine digs.
Winston spearheaded the Trojan offense with 10 kills while Landis and Darby Griff contributed with nine and eight respectively. Troy setter Reina Terry notched the lone double-double of the match, serving up 30 assists and digging 14 ULM attacks.
“It's my job to have these ladies physically and mentally prepared. Physically, we are better than any team I have coached. Mentally, we are weak. One out of two is a failure on my part. I accept that and will go to work on getting this team more mentally prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. I believe in this group. I need to be better so they can succeed,” Hiltz said.
The Warhawks will travel about three hours southwest to face the South Alabama Jaguars inside Jag Gym tomorrow with first serve set for 6:30 p.m.
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