STARKVILLE, Miss. – ULM's first year head volleyball coach Russ Friedland and his 2018 team have already etched their names into the ULM history books. On day one of the StarkVegas Classic (Aug. 24), the Warhawks took down host team Mississippi State in four sets (3-1).
 
ULM closed out the day with the big win, but not before falling to first year NCAA Division I member, California Baptist.
 
"We came into this game and thought we were mentally prepared," said Friedland. "We got off to a slow start and never really found our footing."
 
Freshman Karlee Wilkerson saw the most success against the Lancers, topping out at seven kills. Wilkerson's seven kills were far from enough to balance out the attack from CBU's Megan Sester (12) and Tesa Oaks (12).
 
Wilkerson was one of four new Warhawks to see the court against California Baptist. "With new players seeing an opponent on the other side of the net that isn't their own teammates for the first time, their jitters got the best of them."
 
"We knew what we put out against CBU wasn't the product that we've been working to put on the court and that we'd turn it around for the evening match," Friedland said.
 
ULM did out block CBU, with more than double the number of team blocks with nine and a half for the Warhawks and only four and a half for the Lancers. "We played well at the net with some big blocks, and I was happy with that," Friedland added.
 
The Warhawks definitely turned on the jets for match two, when they would face SEC opponent, Mississippi State.
 
Friedland's defensive specialists, Katie [McKay] and Albany [Schaffer] made a smooth transition into match two, cleaning up the rough edges that led to the match one loss. "Both Albany and Katie, who struggled against CBU, were able to play and control the back court and serve receive tonight, which allowed us to run our entire offense as it was intended to be ran. We couldn't have executed those plays without their intensity backing us up," Friedland said.
 
"This is the team we've seen in the practice gym," Friedland reported. "I am so proud of this team for being able to come back after our performance and inevitable loss this morning, and rebound with a huge win tonight."
 
Leading the Warhawks to the grand victory was freshman Kate Blasingame, whose tenacity on the court earned her 12 kills and 13 digs. "Kate came out really strong tonight, picking up her first collegiate double-double," Friedland said about the Plano, Texas native. "She's going to be one to watch this whole season."
 
Blasingame's final kill came in a huge match-point win in set four, after the assist by McKinley Thiede. "Beating Mississippi State was a result of how hard we have worked these past couple of weeks during preseason," said Blasingame. "Our love for the game showed through in the way we played. Everyone was all in, and the outcome was a win. We saw to it that we would walk away with the physical and mental win tonight. We will definitely enjoy this triumph tonight, but tomorrow there is more work to be done."
 
Friedland and his Warhawks will take on the Devilettes of Mississippi Valley State University in day two of the StarkVegas Class at 2 p.m. "We won't let this win keep us from staying prepared to go back into battle tomorrow against a relentless MVSU program."
 
Links to live stats for Saturday's (Aug. 25) match is available at ULMWarhawks.com.