MONROE, La. – The Warhawks enjoyed a blissful 25-20 set one win over Little Rock on Saturday night, before the Trojans bounced back and took the match, 3-1 (25-20, 13-25, 10-25, 23-25). The ULM volleyball team closed the door on the 2018-19 season at 11-19 overall and 3-13 in Sun Belt play.
 
The evening began by saying goodbye to our four Warhawk seniors, Taylor Wood, Tara Jenkins, Presleigh Williams, and Sarah Woods. ULM would like to thank these four outstanding young ladies for their time at ULM and would like to congratulate them all on stellar careers.
 
"We're playing way better volleyball now than we were the last time we met in Little Rock," said head coach Russ Friedland. "We're playing so much better and that's exactly what you want to see in your team."
 
ULM wasted no time getting down to business in the first set. Recording 15 kills and only four errors, the Warhawks came out hitting .324 at the net to put the Trojans away 25-20 and take a 1-0 match lead.
 
Little Rock (18-11, 10-6) returned in the second set, matching the Warhawks energy and after being help to a .059 hitting percentage in the first set, posted 14 kills and only the errors. The Trojans used back-to-back Warhawk errors to close out the set and tie the match with a 25-13 set victory.
 
The Warhawks couldn't recover from the tough loss in set two and dropped the third set in a 25-10 decision. ULM recorded a set-high 35 attacks in the second set but only seven fell as kills for the Warhawks.
 
"The team talked after the first set and we knew that they were going to respond," said Friedland. "A talented, well-coached team like Little Rock prepares to respond like that and we just weren't ready when they did respond. We started to see some progress in the fourth set, but it was just a little too late at that point. It's a tough loss, but I'm glad we were able to show our ability to compete."
 
The fourth and final set looked to be leaning in favor of the Trojans as they led by as many as six points mid-way through the match, but ULM began to make an attempt at a comeback, coming within one point of Little Rock's lead. The Warhawks found their rhythm just a few points too late and the Trojans pulled of the four-set win after a kill by  Veronica Marin gave them the fourth set in 25-23 fashion.
 
"The seniors have set a foundation for this group that will help us move forward in the future," Friedland said. "A new staff came in and they bought in and we'll look to build off that foundation headed into off-season and spring camp. We saw such great competitiveness from this team as the season went on and we'll be back next year and stronger than ever."