MONROE, La. – The ULM volleyball team is back on the road this weekend, slated to face Little Rock on Friday (Oct. 12) and Arkansas State on Saturday (Oct. 13). The Warhawks are looking to snap their six-game conference losing streak.
ULM (7-12, 0-6) is away this weekend after hosting South Alabama (Oct. 5) and Troy (Oct. 6), dropping both matches. The Warhawks committed set one losses to both teams in dramatic fashion, and despite fighting back and battling in the remaining sets, were unable to recuperate from the opening set loss.
"This team is hungry," said head volleyball coach
Russ Friedland. "The team knows that we're in a tough league and it's going to take some true grit to get our first conference victory. If we can come together and play as one unit, with the fire they compete against each other with everyday in practice, we can put ourselves in positions to win sets and matches. But we are going to have to bring everything we have this weekend against two strong programs.
The Warhawks have not secured a victory since September 25
th, when they traveled to Ruston and lit-up Louisiana Tech's coliseum in a thrilling 3-2 match win.
"We've been working really hard this week in the gym," said Friedland. "We're focusing on and working on some of the things we feel we can control."
Little Rock (11-8, 3-3) sits at .500 in conference play, with wins over South Alabama, Troy, and Appalachian State. The Trojans have dropped three of their last four, most recently a five-set loss to Coastal Carolina on Sunday (Oct. 7).
The last time the Trojans and Warhawks met during the 2017 season, ULM had a 2-1 set lead after losing set one to Little Rock in a 25-15 decision. The Trojans put one the blasters in the final two sets, claiming sets three and four (25-12, 15-10) for the match win.
Junior outside hitter
Mikaela Worley recorded a career-high 22 kills in the loss. After missing multiple games at the start of the season due to injury, Worley is headed back to the top, accumulating 70 kills averaging 2.69 kills per set.
Overall, the Trojans are hitting an impressive .239 at the net, compared to ULM's .153. Leading Little Rock is senior middle-blocker Veronica Marin. The Romanian-native has played in all 75 sets for the Trojans this season, averaging 2.41 kills per set and 1.65 blocks per set (124), a team-high as well.
ULM will host Little Rock before the season is over on Nov. 10 as the last match in regular-season play.
On Saturday, the Warhawks will travel to Statesboro, Ark. For their match against the Red Wolves. Arkansas State (10-9, 2-4) leads the all-time series 39-5 after defeating ULM 3-0 in 2017. ULM will be aggressive in ending ASU's 32 match win-streak against the Warhawks.
Like ULM, Arkansas State heads into the weekend riding a four-game losing skid. The Red Wolves dropped those matches all to Sun Belt opponents: UT-Arlington, Texas State, Coastal Carolina, and Appalachian State.
Arkansas State's biggest threat is undoubtedly senior Carlisa May. The 5'10 outside-hitter was the Sun Belt offensive player of the year in 2017 and since then is averaging 4.70 kills per set, ranking her 11
th in Division I. May's primary setter, Ellie Watkins is currently third in the league with 703 total assists.
Both of this weekend's matches are available via live stats and stream, links are posted at ULMWarhawks.com. Follow the Warhawks on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @ULM_VB to stay up to date on team happenings, schedule changes, live in-game updates, and much more.
