THE BASICS
Score: ULM 0, Kennesaw State 3
(21-25, 18-25, 15-25)
ULM 3, Jacksonville State 2
(22-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 18-16)
Records: ULM 5-12
Kennesaw 6-8
Jacksonville State 9-8
Location: Jacksonville, Ala.
Jacksonville, Ala. – The ULM volleyball team split on day two of the Gamecock Classic with a five set win over Jacksonville State and three set loss to Kennesaw State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Vs Kennesaw State
-The Warhawks had a slow start in set one but after a 4-1 run ULM lm was back within one point of Kennesaw State. The Owls however were able to regain a three to four-point lead that would see them through to a first set win.
-ULM retook the court ready to go and started the match with five ties. After a tie of nine, Kennesaw State worked its way to a three-point lead before going on a five point run that the Owls would ride through to a second set win.
-Kennesaw State continued to hold the momentum in set three despite the effort of the Warhawks. The Owls jumped out to an early lead that they would hold through the entirety of the set.
Vs Jacksonville State
-Jacksonville State took an early lead in set one. The Warhawks slowly made their advance to tie the score at nine, but were unable to take the lead as the Gamecocks went on a five-point run that they would ride to a first set win
-Set two was a battle for control with a total of 13 ties throughout the set. After a tie at 22, ULM beat JSU to the two-point advantage to take the set.
-The Gamecocks took an early lead after a 5-1 run that they would hold through the entirety of the set.
-After a couple of lead changes the Warhawks settled in and found their rhythm once again. The team capitalized off of a five point run to see that lead to another set win.
-In set five, ULM jumped out to an early lead and were the first to eight. After the teams switched sides Jacksonville State closed the scoring gap and took the lead. The Gamecocks were set to take the match at 14-11 but the Warhawks held them there. A back-and-forth battle ensued before ULM was able to put together the three points that would give them the match.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Vs Kennesaw State
-Kaitlyn Shearer led the Warhawks with seven kills in the match. Jennifer McClendon followed with six kills of her own.
-Tara Jenkins fed the offense with 23 of the teams' 24 assists in the match. Jenkins averaged 7.67 assists per set.
-Kacey LeBlanc led the defense with 14 digs in the match
-ULM recorded its highest hitting percentage in set one (0.200)
-ULM recorded its highest total of kills in a set in set one (10)
-ULM held Kennesaw State to its lowest hitting percentage in set two (0.242)
Vs Jacksonville State
-Jenkins posted a double-double with 15 digs and a new school record of 62 assists in a five set match. The previous record was set by Bayleigh Hoffman against Appalachian State in 2014. Jenkins recorded an average of 12.4 assists per set.
-LeBlanc led the defense with a new career-high of 30 digs for an average of six digs per set.
-Pawlik led the offense with 20 kills in the match. Worley and Griffith followed with 15 and 12 kills respectively.
-In five sets ULM recorded only one serve receive error
-ULM recorded its highest hitting percentage in set two (0.244)
-ULM recorded its highest total of kills in a sets three and four (17)
-ULM held JSU to its lowest hitting percentage in set five (0)
FROM COACH HILTZ
About Kennesaw State/What we need to work on: The first match today obviously didn't go the way we wanted. Our serve receive was very good but our setting and hitting was inconsistent at best. We need to make better choices as hitters based on what is available. Setters still need to work on seeing the block and making the right set choice based on the defense. Our block was sort of all over the place and our defense was chaotic. It just felt like Kennesaw was a step ahead of us in all aspects. In the end, I didn't have the team as prepared as they needed to be in order to win that match. It's my job as coach to have the team ready for whatever may come their way and I told the girls that I would make sure to have them prepared for every match from here on out. I know what needs to be fixed. I know how to fix it. We will get it done.
About Jacksonville State: Jacksonville State played their tails off tonight. Both teams deserved to win. Both teams played some crazy scrappy defense and had hitters taking huge swings all night. Several rallies went back and forth multiple times with both teams swinging hard every time. It really was an entertaining match for the spectators that were there tonight.
About the win: I still don't quite know how we stole the win. It is simply proof that these Warhawks never quit. We kept believing even after squandering a big fifth set lead. We kept fighting and put ourselves in a position to win. We are always telling the players on the bench that they have to be ready at all times. They never know when I'm going to call their name and tonight, at the end especially, players were ready.
What we did well: Our focus was great all match. We knew what they were going to do and we made the adjustments necessary to make life a little more difficult for them when we were serving. There were some fantastic individual performances led by Tara of course but those gaudy numbers don't happen unless the team as a whole performs the way they did. Everyone that played did their job on the court. Even our bench payed a huge role in keeping momentum on our side, keeping the ULM party going from point one all the way through to the last point.
About the players: Kacey was a stud all weekend for us and deserved every bit of her all tournament award. Just to be certain she threw in a new career high for digs. Her biggest contribution this weekend though was serve receive. She was solid all weekend and kept our offense flowing. Best thing about Kacey's performance on defense tonight for me is that I know 30 won't stay her career high for very long. She's just that good and she pushes herself non-stop to always be better. So many players contributed tonight, it would take a forever to mention them all. Kacey and Tara were the obvious standouts but it was great to see Cat and Hope find some offensive rhythm as well. Kaitlyn was big for us as well even though it doesn't show in the numbers. Just a great performance by the entire team.
Where we go from here: Coming back to win a match like this is a great win for us to build on as we prep for conference next weekend at home. We learned several things about ourselves that are good and several that need work. Consistency comes from confidence. Confidence comes from consistency in practice. We finally have a full week of practice before we play again. We need to take advantage of that time and clean up our inconsistencies. Preseason is over, I feel like we are ready to make our run to the conference tournament.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks will return home to begin conference play against Georgia Southern on Sept. 23, and Georgia State on Sept. 24.
