STARKVILLE, Miss. – The ULM volleyball squad swept Jackson State to open the season with a victory before receiving its first defeat versus Mississippi State in front of a record crowd Friday inside Newell-Grissom.
ULM 3, JSU 0
A balanced attack that saw five different Warhawks rip at least five kills pushed ULM over Jackson State in a three-set sweep (25-16, 26-24, 25-16) Friday afternoon in the third match of the Bulldog Invitational inside Newell-Grissom.
“In years past we have not been balanced and teams would be able to load up on our outside hitters in particular,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “We really stressed getting our middles involved, and I think Bayleigh (Hoffman) understands the significance. A little bit of what happened today was that our outsides understood just how important it is for everybody to be involved. It makes hitting easier for everybody if we spread things out. Bayleigh had a good grasp on what we wanted to do offensively and it shows in the numbers.”
Juniors Hadley Swartz and Kaitlyn Shearer led the attack with 10 and nine kills respectively with junior Hope Pawlik (7) and sophomores Jennifer McClendon (6) and Hoffman (5) also contributing to an offensive attack that posted a .268 (42-16-97) clip. ULM (1-0) also finished with a 12-3 service ace and 7-6 block advantage over JSU (0-2). Junior Taylor Zaeske also recorded 15 digs from the libero position.
“(Zaeske) did a really great job for us stepping in as libero,” Hoffman said. “My middles are working really hard. It's showing and opening things up for my pins. But it all stems from passing. We've been working on defense from day one and it showed today. My hitters are also being very aggressive, their timing is great and they are putting the ball away. The blocking is great as well. Everything is clicking so it is making my job really easy.”
The turning point in the first set came at 10 points apiece when ULM ripped off three consecutive kills, one apiece from senior Kimberlie Alvarado, Swartz and Shearer. The Lady Tigers never could recover, scoring only six of the final 18 points in the set.
Swartz led the attack in the first set with five kills followed closely by Shearer with four. Shearer showed her efficiency at the net, posting a .571 attacking percentage in the first set. As a team, the Warhawks would notch a .412 attacking percentage with 17 kills while limiting JSU to just eight kills on a .094 attacking percentage. ULM distributed the ball nicely, receiving at least two kills from five different attackers.
“Kaitlyn has found herself,” Hiltz said. “She is getting confident, and Bayleigh is finding confidence in her too. They are really starting to click and find each other. That is just going to open things up for our outsides when the times come. I think both Hope and Hadley during this game benefitted from just how well Kaitlyn was playing.”
Trailing 21-17 late in the second set, sophomore setter Bayleigh Hoffman deked the defense with a kill from the setter position that sparked a 6-1 Warhawk run. Knotted at 24, Shearer combined with Kalena Caruthers and Hoffman on back-to-back assisted blocks to seal the second set for ULM.
The Warhawks trailed 5-4 in the third set before Pawlik ripped a kill that ignited ULM to take the next eight points. The Lady Tigers would cut the deficit to as close as one point at 16-15 before the Warhawks took nine of the next 10 points behind strong serving from Hoffman and Swartz, who recorded two aces apiece during the scoring barrage.
MSU 3, ULM 0
The ULM volleyball squad suffered its first defeat of the season in straight sets (25-22, 25-15, 25-19) from Mississippi State in front of a raucous 1,018 fans, third largest in school history, Friday night inside Newell-Grissom.
“State runs a nice system offensively. It gave us some problems,” Hiltz said. “We could not really find our hitters and were jumping all over the place. Credit to (Mississippi State head coach) David McFatrich, he brought his system over from Central Arkansas. I talked to him after the match and they are a much, much improved team. I wish them the best of luck in the SEC this year.”
With the score tied at 21 in the first set, Hoffman utilized her jump-float serve for an ace, but served long on the very next point. MSU (2-0) would take the next three points on back-to-back kills from Evie Grace Singleton and the dagger from Alex Warren.
ULM (1-1) struggled to get going early in the second as MSU took 10 of the first 13 points. The Warhawks would score three consecutive points late in the set on a kill from Kalena Caruthers and back-to-back assisted blocks by Caruthers and Shearer to bring the score to 20-10, but ULM would only score five more points until MSU locked down the set with an assisted block from Emily Howard and Blossom Sato.
The Warhawks were fighting in the third set at 15-13 after Swartz buried a State overpass and freshmen Tara Jenkins and Sarah Woods scored the next two points via an ace and a kill, but MSU would respond by scoring the next four on three Warhawk errors. An assisted block by McClendon and Pawlik and a Singleton attacking error brought the ULM deficit to as close as four at 22-18, but the Bulldogs would clinch the match at 24-19 with a crosscourt strike from Singleton.
Hoffman finished with her first double-double of the season, assisting on 15 kills and digging 12 balls. Pawlik (7), Swartz (6) and McClendon (5) led the offensive production for the Warhawks while Shearer and Caruthers paced the team defensively with four blocks apiece.
“I thought Kalena did a really nice job coming in and setting the block for us,” Hiltz said. “Tara is going to be a fantastic player for us. As soon as she starts to figure out some things, understand our offense and find the tempo and rhythm we need – like I said before she is a steal for us. I am really happy to have her on the squad. More importantly, the girls know we are '14 deep.'”
Singleton paced the Bulldogs with 14 kills while Howard was efficient in the middle, swinging a .417 clip on five kills.
ULM looks to rebound tomorrow as they will face Southern Utah University at 10 a.m. before sitting one match and playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m.
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