MONROE, La. – After falling to the Ragin' Cajuns less than 48 hours prior, the ULM volleyball team came back for vengeance, taking down the Ragin' Cajuns in three-straight sets (29-27, 25-18, 25-23) in Fant-Ewing on Sunday (Nov. 4). The Warhawks opened and closed the match with successful comeback wins in sets one and three.
 
"We played a really tough match on Friday, it was a touch loss for the team and today's win shows their resilience," said first year head coach Russ Friedland. "We practiced yesterday and actually change some of our offensive and defensive schemes so it was good to see the team come out and execute that for the win."
 
ULM (11-17, 3-11) was powered by junior Mikaela Worley and redshirt-junior Catherine Griffith at the net. Griffith finished with nine kills, while Worley racked up a match-high 12 kills. With the help of Worley and Griffith, the Warhawks batted .261 against the Ragin' Cajuns.
 
"Its awesome see such a balanced score sheet, with Mik and Cat hitting so well with so little errors and to have Taylor back up the attack with a block when ULL responded. I challenged the team to improve on our performance from Friday and they did just that," said Friedland.
 
The Warhawks were able to rise over the Ragin' Cajuns with some serious defensive support from freshman Kate Blasingame and junior transfer Katie McKay.  McKay recorded a match-high 18 digs and Blasingame added 13 digs of her own to the stat sheet. The ULM defense was able to hold the opposing attack to a mere .146 hitting percentage.
 
Senior setters Presleigh Williams and Tara Jenkins combined for 37 of ULM's 43 assists, providing a set for the Warhawk attack in 43 of the squads' 45 kills.
 
Set one looked to be weighing in favor of the Ragin' Cajuns, but the Warhawks were not about to let their in-state rivals get away with the set win. Trailing 21-14, ULM sparked a 7-1 scoring rally, highlighted by two kills from senior Sarah Woods and a service ace from Tara Jenkins.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns would call a timeout and after the break, scored the first two points, taking a 24-21 lead. ULM fought back to tie the score at 24-24 with a kill and service ace from Blasingame. The two teams then played point for point until Worley and Blasingame recorded back-to-back kills to secure the 29-27 set one win.
 
The Warhawks get the fire fuming in the second set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Ragin' Cajuns would respond with a four point rally but never came within less than two points of the Warhawks as ULM walked away with a demanding 25-18 set two win after a kill from senior Taylor Wood.
 
Returning from the break, and now leading 2-0 ULM struggled to stay focused. The Ragin' Cajuns wasted no time capitalizing on the Warhawks slow start, leading by as many as 10 points mid-way through the match.
 
An attack error by ULL would put the ball back into the hands of the Warhawks and with Griffith on the serve, ULM began to climb back to the top, scoring five straight points. ULM outscored the Ragin' Cajuns 15-4 to prevent ULL any set wins and seal the deal on the Warhawks first sweep of a conference opponent.
 
"We talk about in practice and throughout the week the importance of getting better set-by-set, not day-by-day or week-to-week. We want to continue as we progress, to learn from our mistakes, and just improve on our game after every set we play," Friedland said.
 
The Warhawks have only final weekend on the court and hill host Arkansas State (Nov. 9) and Little Rock (Nov.10) to close out the season. ULM will be honoring volleyball's four seniors, Taylor Wood, Tara Jenkins, Presleigh Williams, and Sarah Woods, prior to Saturday's match against the Trojans.