MONROE, La. – The ULM volleyball team was unable to break through in three tight sets Friday night, falling to visiting Central Arkansas, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20), at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"Honestly, it's the most comfortable we've looked all season," ULM head volleyball coach Charlie Olson said. "Offensively, we spread the ball around, found hot hitters, blocked extremely well and served aggressively. The problem was that we committed too many errors in runs and UCA walked out with a 3-0 victory."
The first set was the most competitive, with the lead changing hands four times. Neither team managed more than a three-point lead in the set. The Sugar Bears scored the first three points of the set before ULM eventually claimed an 8-5 lead on back-to-back attack errors. UCA surged back ahead, but again ULM responded, taking a 17-14 lead by junior Cali Assaley. However, UCA rallied again by scoring six of the next seven points to claim a 20-18 advantage. ULM tied the set at 20 on a kill by freshman Karson Davis, but the Bears scored four of the next five points to lead 24-21. The Warhawks fought off the first two set points, but UCA held on to take the set, 25-23.
In the second set, ULM grabbed an early 5-3 advantage on a kill by senior Ina Gosen. UCA scored the next four points to take the 7-5 lead. The Warhawks fought back to tie the match at 12 and again at 13 on another kill by Gosen. UCA quickly scored the next four points to regain control and led by as much as five down the stretch of the set as ULM did not threaten to tie the match again. UCA took the set, 25-21.
The final frame belonged to UCA from the early stages. With the set tied at two, UCA rattled off four straight points to lead 6-2. After back-to-back points by ULM on a service error and a kill by freshman Emma McWhorter, the Bears quickly added four more points to expand the lead to 10-4. The Warhawks cut the gap to three at 13-10 on a service ace by junior McKinley Thiede. UCA answered back with another 4-0 run to increase the lead to 17-10. ULM got no closer than four points the rest of the way as UCA took the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-0.
"The best part of today's match is that we can continue to build on this and finally move forward with a lineup we are comfortable with and competitive against opponents," Olson said. "We're looking forward to the rematch on Sunday."
Senior Haley Coulter and Gosen led the Warhawks with nine kills each. Thiede added 17 assists and Hogan picked up 12 digs.
The Warhawks and Bears meet again at 3 p.m. Sunday. A link to live stats is available on the volleyball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
