LITTLE ROCK – Junior Hope Pawlik tied a match high with 13 kills but the ULM volleyball squad was swept 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 by Little Rock Sunday afternoon inside the Jack Stephens Center.
"This weekend was frustrating. We played, at times, some of the best volleyball we've played all year," head coach Patrick Hiltz said. "We worked hard during many points only to get control of the point and make a mental error to give it away. We have to be smarter hitters, smarter blockers and better servers."
Pawlik's 13 kills came on an impressive .294 clip while sophomore setter Bayleigh Hoffman picked up her fifth double-double of the season after dishing out 21 assists and digging 11 balls. Junior duo Hadley Swartz and Taylor Zaeske chipped in five kills apiece.
Trojan attacker Miona Milovanovic matched Pawlik with 13 kills. Teammate Marina Avram added nine kills and Carolee Dillard and Edina Selimovic rounded out the quartet with eight kills each. The foursome combined for all but two of the Trojan's 40 kills. Setter Taylor Lindberg notched a match-high 34 assists.
After the first set came to a three-point standstill, ULM (12-14, 2-9 SBC) pushed two straight points capped off by a kill from Pawlik. After a Little Rock (10-11, 6-5 SBC) kill cut the Warhawk lead to one later in the set at 6-5, ULM responded with five straight points ending with a Swartz service ace to make it 11-5.
The Trojans struck back by scoring five of the next six followed by a 6-0 run lifted by two Priscila Almeida aces to take a commanding 16-12 lead. The Warhawks came as close to one at 18-17 before Little Rock scored the next three and eventually ended the set with a Dillard kill at 24-20.
The second set began in a back-and-forth affair, featuring eight ties in the first 26 points. The Trojans then broke through with five straight points starting with a Selimovic kill and ending with back-to-back Selimovic aces to bring the second set to 18-13.
The Warhawks clawed their way back into the set with three straight points on a kill each from Kaitlyn Shearer and Swartz and a Pawlik service ace to make it 18-16. Little Rock, however, countered with four straight to take a marginal six-point lead at 22-16. At 24-20, Dillard again iced the set with a slam.
The two teams traded three-point runs to begin the third set before the Trojans took control with four straight points on two kills, one each from Avram and Milovanovic. After a Milovanovic error later in the set made it 13-9 in Little Rock's favor, the Trojans scored three straight points ending with back-to-back kills from Milovanovic and Selimovic to push the lead to seven at 16-9, forcing a ULM timeout.
After the Warhawks cut the deficit to five at 20-15, Swartz fired a kill followed by a service ace and senior Kimberlie Alvarado followed up with a kill to make it a two-point set at 20-18. Milovanovic scored two of the next three for the Trojans on back-to-back kills and after the two teams traded points to see match point at 24-19, Selimovic smashed a kill to end the match.
The Warhawks return to action Friday where they will travel to face Texas State before dueling it out with UT Arlington Saturday. Both matches are set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
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