MONROE, La. – It's been quite some time since a win felt this good. In fact, for the ULM volleyball program, it's been 679 days since the Warhawks yelled victory in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. On Friday (Sept. 14) first year head coach Russ Friedland and his Warhawks swept I-20 rival Grambling State in front of nearly 500 fans.

"We came out strong tonight," said Friedland. "Our game plan was to take care of our side of the net and we did that against a gritty Grambling team."

"It's great to win at home, that's for sure. It's been a while for this program and a focus of mine is to be better on our home floor. We had a great crowd tonight and I hope they keep showing up like they did, we could feel the support from our fans radiating on the court."

ULM's home opener was far from its first contest of the season, as the Warhawks entered Friday's match with a 4-6 record on their back. The team's tenacity was starting to show, people were starting to take notice, and the fans flocked to ULM's campus to watch them take the court.

In front of a crowd that far surpassed what Fant-Ewing had seen in 2017, the Warhawks opened the match strong, taking a 12-7 lead behind the serve of sophomore Lauren Appleman. Against Grambling, ULM tallied 13 service aces, tying the match-high among Sun Belt teams.

The Warhawks held onto the lead for the remainder of the match, as senior Presleigh Williams closed out the 25-11 set-one win with a service ace of her own.

Freshman McKinley Thiede would take the first six serves of set two, helping the Warhawks to a 5-1 lead, while racking up three service aces. Kills by Appleman and freshman Karlee Wilkerson pushed ULM's lead out to 13-2 mid-way through the set.

The Lady Tigers pushed back with back-to-back points three separate times, but the Warhawks would hold onto the second set with a demanding kill by senior Catherine Griffith.

Set three began in Grambling's favor, as the Lady Tigers pulled ahead 6-1 with three kills by Talicia Lang. 

Friedland would call a timeout, the Warhawks readjusted, and attacked the court once again, tying the score at 9-9 with a service ace by Griffith.

"Our transition attack is getting stronger," Friedland said. "We'll continue to work on it throughout the week and against Jackson State on Tuesday (Sept. 18) in preparation for conference play next weekend."

ULM and GSU would tie only one more time in set three (11-11), before the Warhawks regained the lead after taking advantage of three straight errors off the Grambling attack.

Griffith added two more kills to her stat sheet, and with another two kills from freshman Cali Assaley- the Lady Tiger's fate was sealed with ULM's 25-18 set-three win.

ULM posted eight team blocks across the match, led by Griffith's five total blocks. The Warhawks defensive power held Grambling to a mere .056 hitting percentage through three sets, ranking ULM third among Sun Belt teams with a cumulative .173 opponent hitting percentage.

Griffith also led all players with 10 kills, followed by Appleman's seven and seven from freshman Kate Blasingame as well. ULM's attacks were made possible by setters Williams and Thiede, who each finished the night with 13 assists.

Over the past four matches, the Warhawks' attack has averaged a .217 hitting percentage. To show ULM's growth in just September alone, the Warhawks hitting percentage in the four matches prior to those was only .099, an improvement of more than 100%.

"Everyone who was available tonight made an impact," said Friedland. "It's fun for us as a staff to see everyone contribute. This was a total team win and I'm excited to continue to see this team grow and compete."

The Warhawks will be back on the court in Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Tuesday (Sept. 18) when they host Jackson State in game two of ULM's four-game home series. All home matches at Fant-Ewing are open to the public and admission is complimentary.

Links to live stats and video for all home matches are available 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.