GRAMBLING, La. – ULM opened strong and never relented, taking a 3-0 victory Monday night over I-20 rival Grambling State.
"It has been a great start to the season so far, but we are taking it one match at a time," head coach Charlie Olson said.
The Warhawks (3-1) started the game quickly with attack errors from Grambling (0-3). A well-timed attack by Hailey Hughes would give ULM a 3-2 advantage in the first set. Ina Gosen would follow that up two points later with a huge kill.
Albany Schaffer again showed her awareness with an amazing diving dig to keep the ball in play. Mikaela Worley hit the ball over the net to give the Warhawks a 9-4 lead.
Cali Assaley, Alix Christie, and Worley all netted kills during the first set to keep the momentum for the Warhawks. Late in the set, a long volley by both teams ended with Kate Blasingame scoring for ULM. Christie would follow that up with the set-winning kill to give ULM a 25-15 set one win.
"It's so nice that we don't have to rely on just one individual to get the job done," Olson said.
Early in the second set, Schaffer grabbed a service ace to start ULM on the right track. The Warhawks would go on to score seven unanswered points. The tandem of Worley and Christie also kept the Warhawk spirit going with their timely blocks to score points.
"The more we are together, the more cohesive we are when game time comes," Olson said.
Late in the set, Kathryn Raschilla would score a kill to effectively finish out the set. ULM won set two, 25-10.
"This team rose to the challenge and competed at a very high level," Olson said.
The third set showed more of the ULM grit and determination with diving digs and powerful kills. Grambling tried to find some sort of momentum late in the set, but it wasn't enough as the Warhawks won set three, 25-18.
"We were one of four D1 matches playing on Labor Day," Olson said. "It was imperative that we were one of the teams that walked away 1-0."
ULM will travel to Beaumont, Texas, this weekend for the Katrinka Crawford Invitational at Lamar University. The Warhawks will play South Dakota State on Friday at 10 a.m. ULM will also take on Prairie View A&M on Friday at 4 p.m. before finishing the tournament out on Saturday against the host Cardinals at noon.
Links to live coverage, including live stats, for the Katrinka Crawford Invitational 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.
