LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The ULM volleyball team had four players tally double-digit kills, three players post a hitting percentage over .330 and totaled 13 blocks as a team as they defeated Little Rock, 3-2, on Friday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
"I'm so proud of this team," head coach Charlie Olson said. "Winning in this conference is tough and hard work and dedication to the process paid off tonight."
Ina Gosen led the team with 21 kills and a hitting percentage of .462. Alix Christie ended the night with 16 kills, while Kate Blasingame earned 13 kills on the night. Both ladies had a hitting percentage over .300. Kathryn Raschilla ended the night with 10 kills.
McKinley Thiede led the team with 30 assists while Chloe Carenza ended the night with 35 digs. Blasingame also had five service aces.
"We had awesome energy tonight and this was a total team effort and total team win," Olson said. "We had huge games from Ina, Kate, Kathryn and Chloe. I'm really excited to see them play volleyball at a high level."
Gosen and Mikaela Worley started out the game with kills for the Warhawks (12-19, 2-13 Sun Belt) before back-to-back kills by Christie tied the set up at four. Little Rock (6-21, 4-11 Sun Belt) held fast to a steady lead throughout the set and won set one, 25-22.
Gosen nailed three kills and Christie gained four kills as ULM jumped out to a 10-3 lead in set two. The Trojans lagged behind for the entire set while Raschilla, Worley and Lauren Appelman all gained kills. Blasingame, Thiede, and Carenza all earned aces as the Warhawks won set two, 25-14.
The two teams traded points to start set three and back-to-back kills by Blasingame gave ULM a 6-5 lead. Little Rock tied the set up at seven before the Warhawks went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead. ULM stayed in control until the Trojans battled back and took a 15-14 lead.
The two teams answered each other with every point until Little Rock went on a 6-2 run to take set three, 25-22.
Raschilla and Christie, followed by Appelman and Christie had big blocks to start set four. Kills by Blasingame and Gosen, followed by a solo block by Gosen allowed the Warhawks to take a 9-7 lead. The Trojans battled back to tie the set at 11, but ULM quickly took the lead again and stayed in control. Little Rock cut the deficit to 20-18, but the Warhawks went on a 5-0 run to take set four, 25-18.
Blasingame earned an ace to give ULM the first point of set five. Raschilla and Gosen followed that up with a block to move to a 2-0 lead. The Trojans bounced back and took an 8-6 lead. The two teams switched sides and the Warhawks used the small break to their advantage.
ULM regained the momentum and moved out to a 12-10 lead on the back of a Gosen kill and a Blasingame ace. The Trojans rebounded and tied the set at 12, but the Warhawks held fast and a block by Worley and Christie gave ULM the set five win, 15-13 and another conference win. This also broke the 34-game win streak that Little Rock held over the Warhawks.
"Breaking their win streak against us is a huge deal," Olson said. "It's one small step for us in the right direction. One down and one to go. Let's go battle the Red Wolves."
ULM will stay on the road and travel to Jonesboro for its final matchup of the season at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Arkansas State.
Links to live coverage, including video and stats, for Saturday's game against Arkansas State can be found on the volleyball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. Follow along with all things Warhawk Volleyball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @ULM_VB.
