MONROE, La. – Junior Taylor Zaeske tied a match high with 10 kills but that was not enough as the ULM volleyball team was swept (25-22, 25-19, 25-9) by Georgia Southern Thursday night inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
“We are not getting the job done defensively,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “Our block and defense behind the block are undisciplined at the moment. We have to be better in those two areas to have a chance at this level. More than anything though, we have to find the ability to get out of our own way. We are not losing to the teams we are playing. We are beating ourselves.”
ULM (11-11, 2-6 SBC) played from behind early in the first set after GS (7-13, 2-6 SBC) attacker Katie Bange sparked a four-point run with back-to-back kills to make it 9-4. The Warhawks struck back with four straight of their own as junior Kaitlyn Shearer led the charge on a kill and back-to-back assisted blocks combined with sophomore setter Bayleigh Hoffman to cut the deficit to one at 9-8.
After Eagle attacker Crysten Curry smashed a kill to widen the lead to three at 14-11, the Warhawks countered with five straight with a kill from Zaeske and juniors Hope Pawlik and Ana Ribeiro helping the cause. The set then knotted at 18, 19 and 20 before the Eagles pushed two straight after Megan Chevalier slammed a kill to make it 22-20.
Shearer responded with a kill of her own and junior Hadley Swartz followed up with a service ace that tipped the top of the net and fell in between the Eagle defense to tie the set at 22. Swartz's next serve would be out and GS followed up with an ace and a Stephanie Spencer kill to close out the first set 25-22.
Shearer started the second set on fire, recording a kill and an ace in the first four points to give ULM a 4-0 advantage. After nine ties brought the set to 14 apiece, the Eagles broke through with two straight points on a Lauren Reichard kill and an Avery Stephens service ace.
Swartz fired a kill before GS attacker Cathrine Murray smashed three kills and stuffed a Pawlik attack during a five-point run to give the Eagles a comfortable 21-15 lead. The Warhawks were unable to recover and at 23-19, Chevalier smashed a kill from the right side before Hoffman tipped the ball into the net to see the Eagles take a 2-0 set lead into the break.
The third set was tied at six before Bange blasted two kills in a four-point Eagle run to give GS a 10-6 advantage. After Swartz smashed another kill, the Eagles ran away with the set by scoring the next 10 points, five via kills. Zaeske tooled the GS block and Murray made an attacking error to make it 20-9 before GS closed out the match by taking the next five points capped off by back-to-back Spencer kills.
Swartz followed Zaeske with eight kills while Hoffman added 22 assists and Jenkins notched a team-high six digs. Shearer tied a match high with five blocks (one solo).
Chevalier spearheaded the Eagles with 10 kills on a .412 clip while Murray and Spencer nearly matched her at nine each. Bange lifted GS with six kills in seven attempts (.857) as the Eagles put together their highest team attacking percentage (.333) in a match this season.
ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum tomorrow where it will face Troy with first serve set for 6:30 p.m. For updates on the volleyball squad, be sure to follow the team on
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