MONROE, La. – The ULM beach volleyball team begins its ninth season in program history and its second under the direction of head coach
Charlie Olson on February 26 when the Warhawks head to Houston, Texas for the Houston Baptist Beach Tournament.
The Warhawks open the season at 9 a.m. Friday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and also faces Houston Baptist at 4 p.m. The tournament concludes on Saturday as the Warhawks battle No. 1 LSU at 8 a.m. before facing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a second time at 12:30 p.m.
"Last season, our season was cut short in March, but this year we know that nothing is certain," said Olson. "We are grateful to practice and play each day and will embrace adversity. Our schedule is challenging, loaded with top-level talent from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association and other regional conferences including: HBU, LSU, TAMUCC, Tulane, Florida State, Spring Hill College, Missouri State, UNO, UCA, SFA, TAMUK, UAB, Mercer, Southern Miss, and TCU."
"Our home facility has been upgraded over the last few months, including the beach locker room and netting around our five sand courts," continued Olson. "The beach team graduated four players this past season, but reloaded with some very talented freshman and crossover indoor players. The 2021 season is going to be another challenging year for competition as we look to maneuver through ongoing COVID-19 guidelines; however, we appreciate the ongoing support from our administration in helping us have a season. We get to play. Not only will we succeed on the court, we will also strive for excellence in the classroom. The beach team boasted top athletic GPA on campus with a 3.69."
Olson will be assisted again by
Kayla Armer, who has been promoted to Associate Head Coach of the beach volleyball program. Armer is also entering her second season with the ULM beach program and is returning back to her alma mater, Houston Baptist, this weekend.
"I'm elated and thankful to provide this promotion of Associate Head Beach Coach to Kayla," Olson said. "She's completely bought in to the process of learning and teaching, and I'm not sure what I would do without her. She does so much for us behind the scenes and works tirelessly to provide our beach team with the skilled training necessary to take us to the next level in the CCSA. I'm thankful she's part of our ULM family here on there Bayou and look forward to watching her continue to grow into an amazing coach."
Olson's 2021 squad will look to replace some key cornerstones of the program following the graduation of
Gabby Love, Hadley Smith,
Grace Convey and
Bailey Smith. That quartet combined for 182 wins during the course of their ULM careers, and rank third (Love—49 wins), fourth (Swartz—48), fifth (Convey—45) and tied for seventh (Smith—40) in program history among individual wins.
Seniors
Kayla Gallant and
Holland Ponthieux will be critical to ULM's success over the course of the 2021 season. Gallant enters the season with 38 career wins and is looking to become the 10th person in program history to accrue 40 wins. The Cambridge, Ontario, native earned 23 of those victories as a No. 3 seed while picking up 13 more slotted as a No. 2 seed. Gallant and former teammate Tamara Merseli paired up for 13 wins as three seeds, while the duo of Gallant and
Maile Sellers posted 11 wins from the No. 2 pairing.
Ponthieux also has the chance to reach 40 wins in her ULM career, entering the 2021 season with 32 wins under her belt. The West Monroe native has a 27-19 all-time record as a No. 5 seed for the Warhawks, claiming nine of those wins alongside Smith and six as a teammate of
Audrey Brooks. She has also closed out 23 wins in two-set fashion.
Junior
Elizabeth Moreland ranks third on the 2021 unit in wins (22), all coming as the No. 4 seed. Moreland, who had earned 17 of those wins alongside
Allie Kemp, will be in search of a new partner on the sand following Kemp's graduation.
Audrey Brooks enters her third season of action for ULM with 15 all-time wins to her credit. Brooks grabbed 11 of those wins as a No. 5 seed and four as the team's No. 3 seed. The San Antonio, Texas, native has been teamed with Ponthieux on 10 occasions as a No. 5 seed, with the duo winning six of those matches. Additionally, she has 13 wins in two-set fashion.
Sophomore
Julia Blazek wrapped up a shortened 2020 slate with six wins, earning four as the No. 2 seed and two as the No. 1 seed. Both of the first seed wins came alongside Love, while the four second-seeded victories were with Convey as her teammate.
