MONROE, La. – Junior Hope Pawlik led all attackers with 19 kills but it was not enough as the ULM volleyball squad fell in four sets (25-21, 21-25, 17-25, 20-25) to Stephen F. Austin in the Labor Day home opener inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"We knew going in that their middles were good. We were right. In the end, our inability to stop their middles combined with a little hiccup in our serve-receive in sets three and four is what did us in," head coach Patrick Hiltz said. "We were ridiculously good offensviely in the first set. That's what we can do when we are in system. It's clear to see why (SFA) is picked to win the Southland (Conference). We know what we need to fix, and I am confident in this team moving forward to the upcoming weekend at Louisiana Tech."
The first set featured 11 ties before ULM (5-4) went on a 2-0 run after back-to-back kills from Pawlik and junior Hadley Swartz to make the set 17-15. The Warhawks never lost the lead from that point on and closed out the set at 24-21 with another Swartz slam.
The Warhawks finished with three attackers with five kills and one attacker with four. ULM swung at a whopping .645 attacking percentage in the first set.
SFA (5-3) would not be phased and relied on junior middle Justice Walker who fired seven kills in the second set. The Warhawks actually had a 17-14 advantage after a 3-0 run ended with back-to-back Pawlik service aces before the Ladyjacks climbed back into the set and tied it at 19. After a Pawlik kill brought ULM to within one at 22-21, SFA slammed the door with three straight points.
The third set the Ladyjacks were able to lean on their other middle, senior Jacque Allen. Allen recorded six kills in the set but junior Taylor Zaeske followed close behind with five. After a Walker attacking error, she responded by firing two kills during a 5-0 SFA run to push the Ladyjack lead to 20-13. ULM never could recover and at 24-17, Ladyjack outside Tori Bates closed the set with a kill.
Pawlik really found her stroke in the fourth set for a set-high seven kills, but the Ladyjacks started the set scoring eight of the first 12 points to build a marginal lead. Zaeske recorded a service ace later in the set to put it within four at 20-16, but after Pawlik's seventh kill in the set put it at 24-20 SFA, Walker ended the match with a kill.
Zaeske recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 17 digs, and Hoffman assisted on 50 kills, good for 12.5 assists per set. Swartz and junior middle Kaitlyn Shearer each finished the match in double-digit kills with 10 apiece.
ULM returns to action in the Louisiana Tech Tournament this weekend, beginning with host Louisiana Tech Friday at 7 p.m. inside Thomas Assembly Center.
