MONROE, La. – ULM volleyball will continue its road stretch and travel to Ruston this weekend for the Louisiana Tech Invitational.
The two-day tournament will see the Warhawks take on Mississippi Valley State in their first match on Friday at 4 p.m. ULM will play two more games on Saturday against Nicholls State at 10 a.m. and the host Lady Techsters at 4:30 p.m.
"We're looking to come out 1-0 three times this weekend," head coach Charlie Olson said.
ULM (4-3) is coming off of a 1-2 weekend at the Katrinka Crawford Invitational, losing to South Dakota State and Lamar University. However, the team defeated Prairie View A&M.
"We watched the film and digested what happened," Olson said. "We didn't take our two losses as a setback, but as an opportunity to get better."
The Warhawks will be led by top scoring attackers Mikaela Worley and Kate Blasingame. The two ladies have a combined 150 kills on the season. McKinley Thiede and Darby Fisher lead the Warhawks with 255 combined assists and Hailey Hughes leads ULM with 20 blocks. Ina Gosen isn't far behind with 19 blocks of her own.
Albany Schaffer leads the team with 88 digs and leads a great serving core that has 52 service aces on the season. Schaffer also garnered all-tournament recognition during the Crawford Invitational.
ULM's first match will be against Mississippi Valley State. The Devilettes are 2-8 to start the season and are coming off of a two-match night on Tuesday in Tougaloo, Mississippi. MVSU lost their first match of the night against Lyon College, 3-2, but turned around to sweep Tougaloo College later in the evening.
"Anytime you're on the road so much of the week, it's rough," Olson said. "You need that recovery time and hopefully that will work to our advantage."
The Devilettes are averaging 8.6 kills/set and 8.1 assists/set. MVSU will be led by Tyler Caliste, who owns 64 kills on the season.
The Warhawks will take on Nicholls State to start Saturday. The Colonels are 5-0 on the season and have clinched the best start in program history.
"We have a chance to knock them off and that's a huge opportunity for us," Olson said.
ULM is 3-11 all-time against Nicholls, but the Warhawks won the last matchup between the two teams with a 3-0 sweep back in 2017.
The Colonels will be led by Jackie Alanis and Katie Jones. Alanis has 54 kills and nine service aces while Jones has 52 kills and 11 blocks. ULM will also have to contend with Meghan Wozniak and Emily Venable. Wozniak has 174 assists and Venable leads the team with 65 digs.
"They have some really talented players on their team that are doing great things," Olson said. "It's going to be a really fun match."
The Warhawks will wrap the tournament up against the host Lady Techsters on Saturday afternoon. Tech is 4-3 to start the season and is coming off of a 3-0 sweep of Jackson State on Tuesday.
"It could be a five-setter. It's going to come down to who wants it more and who is executing their game plan better," Olson said. "It's another great chapter in the rivalry."
ULM is 2-7 all-time against the Lady Techsters, but won the matchup last season in a five-set thriller, 3-2.
Kaitlyn Adams, Madeline Davis and Jordan Carswell have a combined 214 kills for the Lady Techsters while Morgan Currie leads the team with 113 digs. Marie-Helene Verlinden has been a terror at the net with 20 blocks.
"We need to make [Verlinden] move," Olson said. "Make her guess on where we're setting the ball and not hit the ball directly into her massive block."
Links to live coverage, including live stats, for the Louisiana Tech tournament 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.
