JONESBORO, Ark. – The ULM volleyball team fell in straight sets (25-18, 25-16, 25-20) to Sun Belt Conference leader Arkansas State Friday night inside the Convocation Center.
ASU (20-1, 11-0 SBC) strung together five straight points early in the first set to take a 7-2 lead. Junior Hope Pawlik smashed kill and then served an ace to pull ULM (12-13, 2-8 SBC) within three later in the set at 16-13.
The Red Wolves, however, countered by scoring eight of the next 11 points to threaten set point at 24-16. The Warhawks saved two set points on back-to-back kills from junior Taylor Zaeske before sophomore Bayleigh Hoffman's serve would fall long beyond the boundary to put ULM down 1-0.
The Warhawks would fall behind 5-2 in the second set with both points coming via kills by junior Kaitlyn Shearer. Shearer later fired another kill to bring the set to within five at 20-15 before the Red Wolves again responded abruptly by scoring the final three points of the set after junior Hadley Swartz smashed a kill to make it 22-16. Shearer recorded four kills in the second set.
ULM had a 5-3 advantage in the third set after back-to-back ASU attacking errors. The Red Wolves answered with a 5-0 run behind one kill each from Kari Castanon-Hill, Carlisa May and setter Mallory Warrington. Pawlik fired a kill before ASU scored four straight capped off by a Darby Graff kill to maintain a six-point advantage at 12-6.
Swartz and fellow junior Ana Ribeiro slammed back-to-back kills later in the set to shorten the deficit to four at 13-9. The two teams traded points before a 2-0 ASU run forced a ULM timeout at 16-10.
Later in the set at 21-17 in ASU's favor, the Red Wolves pushed two straight points before the two teams traded points to give ASU match point. The Warhawks fought off two match points on a Swartz kill and Red Wolf attacking error before Shelby Holmes smashed a kill to keep ASU's perfect Sun Belt record intact.
Swartz led all ULM attackers with nine kills while Pawlik and Shearer (.455) each fired six. Zaeske, sophomore Jennifer McClendon and senior Kim Alvarado each added three kills as the latter duo each attacked at an efficient .333 clip. Hoffman nearly missed a double-double with 27 assists and nine digs.
ASU was spearheaded by Graff who fired a match-high 12 kills. Warrington served up 36 assists and dumped efficiently, recording six kills in seven attempts for an .857 attacking percentage.
The Warhawks resume match play Sunday versus Little Rock inside the Jack Stephens Center with a noon first-serve slated.
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