MONROE, La. – The ULM volleyball team dropped its Sun Belt home opener in straight sets to Little Rock, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-13), on Friday, Sept. 29.
 
As a team, Little Rock (5-10, 1-2 Sun Belt) hit nearly .300 for the match (.297, 39-12-91), while ULM managed to hit just .041 (27-23-98). The Trojans also held advantages in total blocks (10-1) and service aces (8-5).
 
The first set featured six ties and two lead changes. Little Rock used an early 5-0 spurt to take an 11-6 lead. ULM put together a 4-1 run to pull to within 17-16. A kill by senior Marina Avram sparked a 5-0 run as the Trojans built a 22-16 lead. The Warhawks managed to cut the deficit to three at 24-21 on sophomore Albany Schaffer's service ace. Little Rock closed out the first set, 25-21, on a kill by junior Veronica Marin. Avram and junior Maritza Mesa paced the Trojans in the opening frame, combining for eight kills.
 
In the second set, Little Rock raced out to a 13-6 lead. ULM responded with a 4-0 run and rallied to within 13-10 on a kill by senior Jennifer McClendon. The Trojans answered with a 6-1 spurt to regain control at 19-11 en route to a 25-16 win in the second frame.
 
ULM opened the third set with a 3-0 lead, but Little Rock used an 8-1 run to take an 8-4 advantage. The Trojans closed out the third set and match with a 6-0 run, 25-13. Little Rock hit .348 (11-3-23) in the third set, and junior Sydnee Martin recorded all three of her service aces in the final set.
 
Four Trojans hit better than .333 for the match, including Mesa's career-best .529 (10-1-17), junior Daisha Gillard .500 (7-1-12), Marin .417 (6-1-12) and junior Taylor Lindberg .333 (3-1-6). Marin recorded a match-best seven total blocks while Lindberg finished with a double-double (23 assists and 12 digs).
 
McClendon hit a team-best .300 (9-3-20) for the Warhawks while fifth-year senior Kacey LeBlanc produced a match-best 14 digs.
 
"I'm extremely disappointed with our fight tonight," ULM head coach Patrick Hiltz said. "We played poorly in every facet of the game. If we had just played the way we did in practice this week, we would have been fine. This group has to find a way to play on game days, the way they play in practice.

"UALR tried to shut down our middles tonight and they were successful because we either couldn't pass, couldn't set or when we had both, we got blocked.

"Competitive, high-level athletes in any sport are the ones that want the spotlight," Hiltz continued. "When the game is on the line, they want the ball to come to them. They want the ball in their hands, and they aren't afraid of the moment. We need someone on this team to decide to win … decide they want the ball in those moments. It has been Cat (Catherine Griffith) for the last couple of weeks, but if it's just one person, we are easy to beat. We need a team full of players that want the ball. Right now, we don't have that. We are waiting around for the other team to make mistakes for us. That's not the mentality we need.

"We have to be better all around. The players have to be better and the coaching staff has to be better."
 
ULM (4-16, 0-3) wraps up its Sun Belt weekend homestand on Sunday, Oct. 1 against Arkansas State at 12 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.