Birmingham, Ala. – The ULM volleyball squad concluded its five-day, 1,400-mile road trip with a second straight come from behind five-set victory Monday, this time over UAB inside Bartow Arena.
“It's great to see this group play with such poise and confidence. To win back-to-back matches coming from a 2-1 deficit each time shows a lot of heart and determination,” Hiltz said. “The girls just refuse to quit and are really starting to understand that they can win any game as long as they put their trust in each other.”
With ULM (9-5) hanging on to a 10-8 lead in the first set, the Warhawks scored five straight points to make the advantage a marginal one at 15-8. UAB (7-10) came back into the set with a 15-9 run but at 24-23 a Blazer attacking error gave ULM a 1-0 set lead.
The second set was nearly as tight as a set could be, featuring 18 ties and 12 lead changes. The Blazers finally broke through with the set knotted at 27 when the Warhawks committed back-to-back attacking errors. Despite dropping the set, 67 percent (18-27) of ULM's points came via the kill in the second set.
The Blazers got off to a quick start in the third set, scoring 11 of the first 14 points. After trading points later in the set to make it 18-10, junior Kaitlyn Shearer scored the next two points for ULM with a solo block and a smash on a UAB overpass. Pawlik followed with back-to-back points via the same method before another slam by Shearer cut the deficit to three at 18-15.
UAB countered by scoring six of the next seven to threaten set point at 24-16. The Warhawks saved three set points before Blazer outside Gabby Deshotel iced the set with a crosscourt attack which resulted in a kill.
The fourth set began with a 4-1 Blazer run followed by a 4-1 Warhawk run to bring the set to a five-point standstill. With the set later tied at 11, ULM pushed two straight points on a Hadley Swartz service ace and another Shearer kill.
After a Bayleigh Hoffman service error brought the set to 15-14 in ULM's favor, the Warhawks ripped off four straight points to take a commanding 19-14 advantage. UAB fought off four ULM set points at 24-19 before Deshotel's serve went wide right to give the Warhawks a shot to come back from 2-1 deficits in two games in a row.
The first six points brought the final set to a 3-3 deadlock before ULM separated with two straight behind the service of junior Taylor Zaeske. ULM brought an 8-6 lead to the first switch and scored the first point after the switch before a kill from UAB's Victoria Young sparked a 2-0 Blazer run. Hoffman, however, swatted the next ball back onto UAB's side before Deshotel's attack went long for a 2-0 ULM run to make it 11-8.
Jenkins followed up with an ace using her jump-float and senior Kimberlie Alvarado fired a kill to push the lead to 13-8. The Blazers scored one before Zaeske and Pawlik tipped back-to-back shots right over the UAB block to seal the match 15-9.
The Warhawks relied heavily on Pawlik and Zaeske slide attacks in the fifth. The duo responded by scoring seven of ULM's eight kills in the final stanza en route to a .412 (8-1-17) clip while the team limited UAB to five kills on five errors in 18 total attempts (.000).
“It helps when Bayleigh moves me around. She kept me effective by moving me around. It wasn't so much my hitting but a team effort. My team kept telling me which shots were open and Bayleigh kept moving me around,” Pawlik said.
Pawlik (23 kills, 10 digs), Zaeske (13 kills, 13 digs), Swartz (10 kills, 17 digs) and Hoffman (48 assists, 15 digs) were the four ULM double-double converters. Shearer also finished in the double-digit kills column with 11 on a match-high .391 attacking percentage.
“The balance of this team is way better than last year,” Pawlik said. “We are playing defense. We have a lot of upperclassmen stepping up and playing defense including Hadley and Taylor. Bayleigh is really stepping up as a sophomore and our (team) captain. It helps when we have an older team and Bayleigh stepping up to really help balance us out.”
ULM gets back in the swing of conference play in its next match versus in-state rival UL Lafayette Friday, Sept. 25, at 6:30 p.m.
For updates on the volleyball squad, be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
