BEAUMONT, Texas - The ULM Warhawk volleyball team split its two games on day one of the Katrinka Crawford Invitational at Lamar, losing to South Dakota State, 3-2, and defeating Prairie View A&M, 3-2.
"Today felt like a roller coaster ride for us," head coach Charlie Olson said. "We had our ups and downs, but ended on a very high note."
ULM (4-2) took on the Jackrabbits (2-3) to start the tournament and started the match out strong. The Warhawks jumped out to a 7-0 lead in set one behind two service aces from Kate Blasingame and attack errors by Crystal Burk.
South Dakota State would come back during the set and take a 9-8 lead.
"We were very tough at the service line, which was a huge positive," Olson said. "However, we also made some careless errors at inopportune times."
A kill by Burk would give SDSU a 25-21 set one win.
The Jackrabbits started set two quickly. However, a block by Ina Gosen and Mikaela Worley tied the set at five. An attack error by Makenzie Hennen would give ULM an 8-7 lead.
A service ace by Katie McKay allowed the Warhawks to pull away. A kill by Kathryn Raschilla and an attack error by SDSU would give ULM a 25-17 set two win.
SDSU would take set three, 25-16, but ULM was able to win set four, 25-18 and force a fifth set.
"Anytime you can go five sets with a team, it can be anyone's ballgame," Olson said. "Today, we did that twice in the same day."
Both teams were looking for a win and with the set tied at 14, SDSU had kills by Ashlyn Smith and Tori Thompson that would give the Jackrabbits a 16-14 set five win.
"(SDSU) just finished stronger than we did," Olson said.
ULM turned around a couple of hours later to take on Prairie View A&M (0-5). The Warhawks again went five sets, but were able to pull out the win, 3-2. Mikaela Worley led four Warhawks with double-digit kills with 18. McKinley Thiede added 32 digs while Darby Fisher tallied 26. The Warhawks trailed the match 2-1 before picking up a 25-18 win in the fourth set before capping off the match with a 15-13 victory.
"I'm very proud of the growth today," Olson said. "It was a team effort all day long."
The Warhawks will round out the invitational by taking on the host Cardinals at noon on Saturday.
"We're looking forward to competing against Lamar," Olson said. "It's going to be a fight."
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.
