MONROE, La. – The ULM volleyball squad went up two sets to none before falling in five sets (13-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-10) to UL Lafayette Wednesday night inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum. This marks the first five-set loss for the Warhawks this season after rising for victories in the first four.
"When ULL started to push at the end of sets three and four we changed how we were playing," head coach Patrick Hiltz said. "We need to learn from this match and be able to maintain our composure and trust in each other. If we don't have a mental breakdown at the end of set three, we are having a conversation about how good our offense looked. I am very confident in this group of young women and their ability to play this game. I have no doubt that they can accomplish their goals and bounce back from this loss."
ULM (11-8, 2-3 SBC) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set after a kill and strong service from junior Hadley Swartz. Later in the set at 8-6 ULM, fellow junior Hope Pawlik smashed a kill that sparked a seven-point Warhawk run behind Tara Jenkins' jump-float serve. Junior Kaitlyn Shearer smashed a kill and recorded two blocks (one solo) during the scoring barrage.
ULL (5-13, 1-5 SBC) would score the next two before ULM countered back with four straight in which Pawlik, Shearer and Swartz each recorded a kill to give the Warhawks a 19-8 lead. After freshman Presleigh Williams' service error at 24-13, Pawlik sealed the set with a kill. The Warhawks never lost the lead in the first set and scored 14 of their 25 points from kills.
The Warhawks raced to a 2-0 lead in the second set before the Ragin Cajuns' bounced back to score four of the next six to tie it at four. After ULM took a 9-7 lead on another Pawlik kill, ULL ripped off five straight points on three Warhawk attacking errors and a kill apiece from Sara Mossakowski and Hanna Rovira.
After a Keely Hayes service error at gave the service to Pawlik at 14-11 ULL, the Warhawks ripped off eight straight points fueled by two Pawlik aces and a kill each from Shearer, Swartz and fellow junior Taylor Zaeske.
The Cajuns scored seven of the next 10 points to cut into the Warhawk deficit at 22-21 before Pawlik took over and slammed two kills in the final four points to give ULM a 2-0 set lead.
ULM seemed to have the third set in check at 20-16 until ULL went on a 6-0 run on five Warhawk errors to take a 22-20 advantage. After Shearer got a kill out of a ULM timeout, ULL scored the next two to threaten set point. After the Warhawks saved two set points to cut the deficit to one, Cajun attacker Chanelle Gardner smashed a quick set to keep ULL's hopes alive.
The fourth set was like déjà vu for the Warhawks. After grabbing an 18-13 lead, ULL went on to score 12 of the next 14 points with Chloe Cordell and Gardner's serves successfully putting ULM out of system offensively.
Zaeske blasted a kill to give ULM a 4-2 lead in the fifth before ULL fired back with back-to-back kills, one each from Cordell and Gardner. A kill from junior Ana Ribeiro gave the Warhawks a one-point advantage but again the Cajuns responded, this time with a three-point run after a kill and back-to-back aces from Cordell.
Pawlik recorded a kill to slice into the ULL lead at 10-8 before the Cajuns pushed three straight points. The two teams traded the next three points before Gardner again put the Warhawk comeback to rest with a kill on match point.
Pawlik fired a match-high 21 kills and career-high 20 digs en route to her sixth double-double this season and 16th of her career. This marks the first 20-20 of her career and the first 20-20 since Meghan McCoy (22 assists, 22 digs) achieved the feat against Denver on Oct. 1, 2011.
Zaeske also recorded her seventh double-double, a team high, with 14 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Bayleigh Hoffman served up a match-high 47 assists while Jenkins dug 16 balls from the libero spot. Shearer stuffed a match-high seven balls for blocks with two coming as solo efforts.
The Warhawks held the advantage in kills (55-39), attacking percentage (.119-.082), assists (51-32) and digs (73-63) despite the loss. A big part of the Cajuns victory came from service aces, in which they held a 9-7 advantage and blocks (15.0-8.5).
ULM treks to Alabama this weekend, facing SBC opponents Troy and South Alabama on Friday and Saturday, respectively, with both matches beginning at 6:30 p.m.
"Our road trip just got very important. Every game in conference is important, but now the next two become quite crucial to the pursuit of our goals," Hiltz said.
For updates on the volleyball squad, be sure to follow the team on
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram.
