CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The University of Louisiana Monroe volleyball team dropped its third and final match of the Chattanooga Classic, losing in straight sets to Sam Houston State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 26-24). There were 20 ties and six lead changes in the match.
The opening set produced 11 ties and four lead changes. Sam Houston senior Brooke White recorded her ninth kill of the first set to break a 21-21 tie and ignite a 5-2 spurt, as the Bearkats took the opening frame, 25-23.
Sam Houston (1-5) hit .325 (16-3-40) in the second set en route to a 25-15 win and a 2-0 lead.
ULM (0-7) jumped out to an 11-6 lead early in the third set before the Kats reeled off nine-straight points to build a 15-11 advantage. The Warhawks battled back to pull even at 22-22 and fought off two match points before eventually falling, 26-24.
White hit .361 (16-3-36) with a match-best 16 kills to lead Sam Houston, while senior Jordyn Vaughn contributed 12 kills.
ULM red-shirt sophomore
Catherine Griffith hit a match-best .364 (4-0-11). Sophomore
Mikaela Worley paced the Warhawks with eight kills and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after registering 20 kills and 20 digs on the weekend.
"The biggest take away from today was that we started to compete a little bit," ULM head coach
Patrick Hiltz said. "We made plays, big plays. Now, we must be able to find that on a consistent basis.
"Against Sam Houston, we really shot ourselves in the foot. It was as if we went from not trying hard enough (early in the season) to trying too hard. We had too many people trying to do too much. It's still a team game. No one person can win or lose the match by herself. We should trust that our teammate will do their job. When we can trust our teammate like that, it frees us up to focus on being as good as we can be in our position and helping our teammates be as good as they can be in theirs. It all starts with trust.
"We made progress today, but in the end, it's still a loss."
ULM returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 5 with a match at Southern Miss, beginning at 6 p.m.
"Tuesday is a very tough test for us, but that's all it is: a test," Hiltz said. "We'll take everything we learned from this weekend and apply it to what we already know and see what happens. They're good and talented, but so are we. I feel like once we find a way to break through things will roll from there."
