ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - ULM volleyball competes in its first Sun Belt Conference Championships when it takes on Texas State in Pool C at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Foley Sports Complex in Foley, Alabama. The Bobcats swept the Warhawks in a three-match series on Sept. 25-26. The Warhawks will also face South Alabama in Pool C with first serve at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Foley. It is the first meeting between the Warhawks and Jaguars this season after the Jaguar Invitational was postponed on Sept. 18-19 due to Hurricane Sally. 

"It's been quite the fall season for this team, but we're elated to be able to continue our play into postseason, which is uncharted territory for ULM as a program," ULM head coach Charlie Olson said. "Having coached postseason (at Sam Houston State) in the past, I know what to expect. However, many of our players don't. They are excited, nervous and reinvigorated as we get to play at least two more matches here in November. No matter what happens, we will leave it all out there, playing for our seniors."

FOLLOW THE WARHAWKS
All matches at the Sun Belt Conference Championships are available to watch on ESPN+. Links to ESPN+ coverage and live stats are available on the volleyball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. Twitter updates will be available on the official Twitter page of the Warhawks, @ULM_VB.

A LOOK AHEAD
The winner of Pool C advances to the 6:30 p.m. Saturday semifinal against the winner of Pool B. Saturday's semifinal winners will play for the Sun Belt Championship at 1 p.m. Sunday.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Texas State
• Texas State leads the all-time series with ULM, 49-2.
• The Bobcats have won 18 straight matches in the series. ULM last defeated the Bobcats, 3-2, on Nov. 11, 2005, in Monroe.
• ULM's only other win in series history was a 3-2 victory on Oct. 11, 2002, in Monroe.
• Out of the 51 meetings between the two schools, 48 are conference matches. The two schools have met as conference opponents in the Southland Conference (1987-2005) and Sun Belt Conference (2013-present).

vs. South Alabama
• South Alabama leads the all-time series with ULM, 14-7.
• South Alabama has won three straight matches in the series and seven of the last eight meetings overall.
• ULM and USA have met at least once in each season since 2006, when ULM joined the Sun Belt Conference.
• The two teams were scheduled to face each other twice this season at the Jaguar Invitational on Sept. 18-19, but the matches were canceled due to Hurricane Sally's impacts on Mobile.

WARHAWKS AT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
ULM is making its first appearance in a conference tournament since joining the Sun Belt Conference prior to the 2006 season. The Warhawks last qualified for a conference tournament in 2005, dropping a first-round match in the Southland Conference tournament to Sam Houston State, 3-1. Prior to that, ULM last appeared in the 1990 Southland Conference Tournament, suffering a 3-1 loss at host Stephen F. Austin. The Warhawks last won a conference tournament match in 1989, when they defeated North Texas, 3-0, in San Marcos, Texas. ULM is 11-16 all-time in conference tournament play.

SEEING DOUBLE-DOUBLE
The Warhawks closed the 2020 regular season with four double-doubles over the final two matches. Senior Haley Coulter came up with double-doubles in back-to-back matches, going for 12 kills and 17 digs in the second match of the day against Little Rock on Nov. 6 and 10 kills and 13 digs in the Nov. 7 series finale. Senior Ina Gosen tallied a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs in the second match on Nov. 6, while junior Cali Assaley added a double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs on Nov. 7.

DAVIS STEPS UP AGAINST CAJUNS
With junior setter McKinley Thiede unavailable the final two weekends of the regular season due to injury, freshman Karson Davis stepped into the starting setter role. Her numbers have improved in nearly every match since joining the starting group. She leads ULM in assists with 288 (4.88 per set).

Against Little Rock, Davis opened the series with 13 assists in the first match on Nov. 6 and followed it with a then season-high 35 assists that evening. In the series finale, Davis picked up a season-high 41 assists on 46 Warhawk kills. She just missed her second double-double on the evening of Nov. 6 with nine digs.

She set a then season-high with 19 assists in the Oct. 30 match at the Ragin' Cajuns, and then topped it on Oct. 31 with 26 assists. She added six digs over the two matches along with three kills and her first career block assist.

Davis has eight straight matches with double-digit assists. She has totaled at least 10 assists 16 times this season.

The native of Conroe, Texas, picked up double-digit assists in five consecutive matches early in the season, from Sept. 12 to Oct. 2. She picked up 18 assists against Arkansas State on Oct. 8. She earned her first-career double-double with 13 assists and 10 digs in the second match of a doubleheader against UT Arlington on Oct. 24.

COULTER PACES WARHAWKS DURING REGULAR SEASON
Senior Haley Coulter, a transfer from Division II Angelo State, closed out her stellar regular season with a pair of double-doubles in the final weekend against Little Rock. Coulter had 12 kills and 17 digs in the second match on Nov. 6 and followed it with 10 kills and 13 digs in the Nov. 7 match. She has five double-doubles on the season.

The Bradenton, Florida, native leads the Warhawks with 161 kills (2.40 per set), 193.0 points (2.88 per set) and 19 service aces. She is second on the team in digs with 252 (3.76 per set). She has posted double-digit kills six times and double-digit digs 12 times.

Coulter earned two double-doubles and just missed a third in the Oct. 23-24 weekend series against UT Arlington. Coulter opened the weekend with 12 kills and 17 digs against the Mavericks for her third double-double of the season. She also added three service aces and one block. In the Oct. 23 nightcap, she picked up nine kills and eight digs to go with two blocks. Coulter wrapped up the series Oct. 24 with 10 kills and 10 digs for her fourth double-double. She also had a service ace and a block.

She narrowly missed out on a pair of double-doubles in the two-match series with Central Arkansas on Oct. 16 and 18. In the home match against UCA on Oct. 16, Coulter picked up nine kills and 10 digs. She followed it up on Oct. 18 with nine more kills and a team-high 20 digs at UCA. She also tallied three service aces in the Oct. 18 match.

Coulter amassed nine kills in the three-game series at Arkansas State to go with 25 digs, two service aces and an assist.

In the Oct. 2 match against the Ragin' Cajuns, Coulter tallied her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 19 digs. She also doubled her season total in service aces by adding three on the night. In the Oct. 3 match, she tallied five kills, 14 digs and two blocks.

Coulter led the Warhawks in kills in all three matches against Texas State on Sept. 25-26 (six, eight, five).

Coulter made a strong impression in her first weekend as a Warhawk. She set a new career-high with 21 kills in the season-opener against Lamar. Her previous career-high was 16 kills, set least season with Angelo State. She hit .283 for the match. 13 of Coulter's 21 kills came across the final two sets. With the match tied at 1 and Lamar leading late in the third set, Coulter came through with three of ULM's final five points to give the Warhawks the set. She built off the momentum in the fourth set as the Warhawks scored five straight points early in the set with Coulter on the service line. Coulter closed the match with four kills in ULM's final five points to take the 3-1 decision. On top of her 21 kills, Coulter tallied 23 digs in the win. The 23 digs rank as the second-most in her career after coming up with 25 digs for Angelo State in a Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinal match against Arkansas-Fort Smith in November 2019. Coulter played well in the final two matches of the weekend, picking up three kills and 18 digs against SFA and led the Warhawks with nine kills and 13 digs vs. Houston Baptist. For her efforts on opening weekend, Coulter was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

GOSEN CONTINUES TO LEAD WARHAWKS
Senior Ina Gosen continues to rank as one of ULM's leaders in kills, blocks and digs.

In the final weekend of the regular season against Little Rock, Gosen had a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs in the second match on Nov. 6. For the series, Gosen tallied 21 kills, 35 digs, five service aces, five blocks and an assist. She had 28.5 points.

Against the Ragin' Cajuns, Gosen totaled 14 kills over the two matches, including 10 on Oct. 31. It was her second double-double of the season as she added a career-high 16 digs.

Gosen was one of the top Warhawks in kills in all three matches against UT Arlington. In Friday's first match, Gosen posted seven kills with five digs, an assist and a block. She came back in Friday's nightcap with nine kills, seven digs and one block. In the series finale, she had six kills and three blocks.

She totaled 20 kills over a pair of matches with Central Arkansas. Gosen had nine kills on Oct. 16 and added 11 more on Oct. 18 against the Sugar Bears. She added 10 digs and two blocks on the weekend.

Gosen picked up 18 kills over the three-match series at Arkansas State. She added two blocks.

She led ULM in kills in each match against the Ragin' Cajuns on Oct. 2-3. Gosen picked up a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs on Oct. 2 before coming back with eight kills and seven digs on Oct. 3.

Gosen started all three matches on opening weekend, posting 19 kills, a service ace and three block assists for 21.5 points to rank third on the team. Gosen opened with 10 kills against Lamar and added six more against SFA.

She is in her second season on the bayou in 2020. She has started 18 of 21 matches and ranks second on the team with 144 kills (2.09 per set) and 164.0 points (2.38 per set). She is third on the team with 151 digs (2.19 per set) and 23 blocks.

The outside hitter from Goelenkamp, Germany, played in all 32 matches in 2019 and finished second on the team with 67 blocks. She was third on the team with 199 kills. Gosen picked up her play late in the season, most notably in a five-set win at Little Rock on Nov. 15. Gosen set a career-high with 21 kills on 39 attacks, good for a .462 hitting percentage, to go along with six blocks and six digs as the Warhawks knocked off the Trojans for the first time since 1992.

HOGAN STRONG ON DEFENSE
Sophomore Madeline Hogan has started 17 of the last 18 matches at libero for ULM. She has compiled double-digit digs in 17 of the last 18 matches and in 19 of 21 matches this season. She increased her number of digs in each match against Little Rock. After opening the series on Nov. 6 with 10 digs, she followed it that evening with 23 digs. She then topped 30 digs for the first time in her career on Nov. 7, coming up with 32 digs. After having a 13-match double-digit dig streak snapped on Oct. 30 at the Ragin' Cajuns, she bounced back the next day with 16 digs. Hogan led the Warhawks in all three matches in the series against UTA with 18, 11 and 16 digs. In the non-conference series against Central Arkansas, she picked up 12 digs in each match and added two service aces on Oct. 18. Against Arkansas State, Hogan posted 44 digs for the series, including 18 in the first match of the series on Oct. 8. She tallied a season-high 21 digs against the Ragin' Cajuns on Oct. 3. Hogan leads the team with 306 digs, good for 4.43 per set. She has also added 30 assists and 12 service aces. A former walk-on, Hogan was awarded a scholarship during fall camp in August.

GRIFFITH EMBARKS ON HER SIXTH SEASON AT ULM
ULM senior Catherine Griffith returns for her sixth season as a Warhawk in 2020. The Raleigh, N.C., native was the only Warhawk to start the first 11 matches of the season.

Against Little Rock, she totaled 17 kills, six blocks and two digs over the three-match series. She had a season-high eight kills in the second match of the day on Nov. 6.

In two matches against the Ragin' Cajuns, Griffith picked up five kills in each match to go with three blocks in the Oct. 30 match.

In the series against UT Arlington, Griffith tallied 14 kills, seven blocks, three digs and a service ace.

At Arkansas State, Griffith played in just six sets, posting three kills, three blocks and four digs.

She played in her 100th career match on Oct. 2 vs. the Ragin' Cajuns. Griffith had three kills and one block in the senior night match vs. the Cajuns before adding four kills and three digs on Oct. 3.

In the series at Texas State, Griffith was strongest on the block, with one block solo and seven block assists. 

On opening weekend, Griffith started all three matches and picked up 18 kills (1.8 per set). She was efficient on her swings, making just three errors on 45 attacks for a .333 hitting percentage, which leads the team. Griffith also picked up a pair of service aces and tallied four block assists to finish with 22 points over the three matches, ranking second on the team.

Griffith arrived at ULM in 2015 and sat out the season with an injury. Another injury forced her to miss the 2019 season. Griffith enters the 2020 season as ULM's active career leader in matches played (93), started (87), kills (609) and total blocks (233). In 2018, Griffith led the Warhawks in kills (235) and attack percentage (.286).

APPELMAN AND CHRISTIE BACK AS FOURTH-YEAR SENIORS
Seniors Lauren Appelman and Alix Christie look to build off successful 2019 seasons. 

Appelman, a senior outside hitter from Chula Vista, California, averaged 1.40 kills per set in 2019, but her .157 hitting percentage was the best of her career. This season, Appelman has played in 13 matches and 27 sets, collecting 14 kills, 11 digs and three blocks.

Christie, a senior middle blocker from Beachville, Ontario, set several career highs in 2019, including matches played (28), sets played (90), kills (158), kills per set (1.76), hitting percentage (.270), assists (8), digs (26), block solos (21), block assists (71) and total blocks (92). Christie led the team in blocks and blocks per set and tied for the team lead in hitting percentage. She ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference in blocks. 

She has played in 14 matches and 37 sets in 2020 but is second on the team with 27 blocks (0.73 per set).

Christie closed out the regular season by matching a season-high with five blocks against Little Rock on Nov. 7. She also added six kills in the match against the Trojans.

She picked up 16 kills in the series against UT Arlington while leading the team with eight kills.

Christie led the Warhawks with seven kills over the two matches against Central Arkansas, coming up with four against the Sugar Bears in Monroe on Oct. 16 and added three more on Oct. 18 in Conway.
She tallied four kills at Arkansas State on Oct. 8, matching her season high. She has totaled 10 kills, seven blocks and one dig in five matches and 10 sets.

Christie made her 2020 debut in time for senior night against the Ragin' Cajuns on Oct. 2. She played in both matches against the Cajuns, collecting five kills, six blocks and one dig.

JUNIORS ANCHORED BY ASSALEY AND THIEDE
The 2020 Warhawk volleyball roster features just two juniors: Cali Assaley and McKinley Thiede. 

Assaley, an outside hitter from Columbia, South Carolina, has started 13 of 17 matches in 2020.

She returned to the lineup in the weekend series against Little Rock after missing the previous four matches with an injury. Assaley closed out the regular season with her first career double-double against Little Rock on Nov. 7, posting a season-high 15 kills and 12 digs to go with two blocks and two service aces.

Assaley picked up eight kills, eight digs and a block in just three sets in the series-opener against UT Arlington on Friday. Assaley was among the team's leaders in the two categories before suffering an injury in the third set. She left the match and did not return for the remainder of the series.

Assaley tied for the team lead in kills in the Oct. 18 match at Central Arkansas. Assaley posted 12 kills to go along with eight digs and two service aces. On Oct. 16, Assaley had six kills but added 11 digs and two blocks.

Assaley collected a career-high 11 digs on Oct. 8 at Arkansas State and followed it up with her second double-digit kill game with 10 kills in the first match on Oct. 9. In all, Assaley had 18 kills with 17 digs and one block at A-State.

She started the Oct. 3 series finale vs. the Ragin' Cajuns, coming up with four kills, six digs and one block.

Assaley started all three matches on opening weekend and played in nine out of 10 sets. She ranked second on the team with 20 kills. She notched 11 kills against Lamar, reaching double-digit kills for the fifth time in her career. She added eight more kills against Houston Baptist.

She is third on the team at 97 kills (2.02 per set).

Thiede, a setter from Reno, Nevada, has started 13 of 16 matches in 2020. She is second on the team with 263 assists (5.06 per set). She did not play in the final five matches of the regular season due to injury.

Thiede has posted 10 straight matches with at least 10 assists. She opened the UT Arlington series with 19 assists on the morning of Oct. 23 and followed it with 18 more assists that evening. On Oct. 24, she picked up 14 more assists. She also totaled 18 digs for the weekend.

She matched her career-high with 32 assists to go with four digs at Central Arkansas on Oct. 18. She had 17 assists, two digs and two service aces in the first match of the series with the Sugar Bears in Monroe on Oct. 16.

She posted a then season-high with 28 assists in the first match on Oct. 9 at Arkansas State. Thiede totaled 52 assists for the three-game series. She leads the Warhawks with 163 assists, good for 4.66 per set.

Thiede returned to the starting lineup for both matches of the Ragin' Cajuns series, posting 14 and 17 assists respectively. She also added 14 total digs and a service ace.

She started all three matches on opening weekend, coming through with 59 assists (5.9 per set). Thiede tallied 27 assists in the season opener vs. Lamar, 17 against Houston Baptist and 15 against SFA. 

Thiede played in all 32 matches and 110 of 112 sets in 2019. She averaged a team-high 5.35 assists per set, ranking 10th in the Sun Belt Conference. She reached double-digit assists in all 32 matches and topped 20 assists 12 times. She twice earned at least 30 assists, doing so against Prairie View A&M (32) and at Little Rock (30). Thiede earned her first-career double-double at Little Rock with 30 assists and 10 digs.

FIVE SOPHOMORES RETURN IN 2020
The Warhawk roster remains youthful in 2020 as five sophomores return for their second season at ULM. Shaska Davis (outside hitter), Darby Fisher (setter), Madeline Hogan (outside hitter), Hailey Hughes (middle blocker) and Kathryn Raschilla (right side) each made their ULM debuts in 2019. Raschilla led the group with 1.58 kills per set. Fisher ranked second on the team with 4.30 assists per set. Hughes led the 2019 freshman group with a .245 hitting percentage.

In the final weekend series against Little Rock, Hogan paced the Warhawk defense with dig totals of 10, 23 and 32 against the Trojans.

At the Ragin' Cajuns, Hughes came off the bench with five kills and four blocks, while Hogan added 16 digs on Oct. 31.

Against UT Arlington, Hogan tallied 45 digs over the three matches, with 18 coming in the first match of the series on Oct. 23. Davis earned two starts against the Mavericks following the injury to Cali Assaley.

Hogan paced the Warhawks with 12 digs in each match against Central Arkansas.

Davis was a bright spot for ULM in the series at Arkansas State. After playing just one set and picking up one kill in Thursday night's 3-0 loss, Davis broke out in the first match of Friday's doubleheader. The Houston, Texas, native set career highs in kills (17), total attacks (33), hitting percentage (.424) and points (17). She entered the series with 18 kills through her first seven appearances in 2020. Her effort was rewarded with her second start of the season in Friday night's series finale, where she added five more kills. Davis has 41 kills on the season, good for 2.05 per set.

Against the Ragin' Cajuns, Hogan tallied 33 digs over the two matches.

At Texas State, Hogan led the Warhawks with 38 digs over three matches. Davis totaled nine kills and made her first career start in Saturday's series finale. Raschilla started two of three matches and posted nine kills.

On opening weekend, Davis tied for the team lead with six kills at SFA. Fisher played in six sets with 17 assists. Hogan played in all 10 sets with 35 digs and had no errors on 41 receptions. Hughes started against SFA and had two blocks and two kills. Raschilla started two of three matches and played in all 10 sets while compiling 11 kills and four blocks.

FOUR NEWCOMERS JOIN WARHAWKS IN 2020
Three freshmen and one senior join the Warhawk volleyball program in 2020.

Senior outside hitter Haley Coulter joins the team as a transfer from Angelo State. The Bradenton, Florida, native played two seasons for the Rambelles, helping them to the 2019 Lone Star Conference tournament championship and the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. For her efforts, Coulter was named honorable mention All-Lone Star Conference after tallying 202 kills, 335 digs and 26 blocks over 103 sets. In 2017, Coulter had 66 kills, 100 digs and nine blocks over 40 sets before missing the remainder of the season and all of 2018 with an injury. Coulter opened her career at Tulsa in 2016, collecting 119 kills, 51 digs and 18 blocks over 64 sets as a freshman.

The freshmen group contains defensive specialist/setter Karson Davis (Conroe, Texas), defensive specialist/libero Chloe Jordan (Pearland, Texas) and middle blocker/right side Emma McWhorter (Spring, Texas). Davis, who was homeschooled prior to attending ULM, helped Christian Homeschool Sports Ministries to an undisputed national championship as a junior. Jordan finished her career as an All-Texas Team selection by the Texas Association of Volleyball Coaches. McWhorter helped Klein Collins High School to its best season in school history, reaching the third round of the playoffs as a junior.

In the final weekend of the regular season, Davis continued to take control at the starting setter position, posting 13, 35 and a career-high 41 assists against the Trojans.

In two matches at the Ragin' Cajuns, Davis set back-to-back season-highs, first with 19 assists on Oct. 30 before adding 26 assists on Oct. 31. 

Against UT Arlington, Davis posted double-digit assists in all three matches, going for 13, 13 and 12. She also added 24 digs over the series.

At Arkansas State, Jordan earned a pair of starts, picking up 23 total digs, including 13 in the first match on Oct. 9. Davis picked up a start in the first match on Oct. 9. She earned 18 digs on Oct. 8 and followed it up with 11 more in the first match on Oct. 9. McWhorter played in eight of 10 sets against the Red Wolves.