MONROE, La. – Just over 16 months after accepting the invitation to join the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) as a beach volleyball member, which came in December 2019, the Warhawks will make their first-ever appearance in the CCSA Tournament when they face FIU on Friday, April 23 at 10:30 a.m.
ULM, which posted a 14-20 overall mark and a 2-10 league mark for the 2021 campaign, will face the Panthers for the fourth time in program history and first time since February 24, 2018. In that match, No. 11 FIU earned a 4-1 victory over ULM at the Blazer Beach Duals in Birmingham, Ala.
The only remaining members of the ULM unit to face the Panthers in matches that day are
Kayla Gallant and
Holland Ponthieux. Gallant was paired with teammate
Grace Convey on court two, suffering a two-set loss, while Ponthieux and
McKenna Webster were on court five, and had the same result.
At the 2021 CCSA Tournament, ULM is part of the Blue Bracket, which features Florida Atlantic, Georgia State, Southern Miss, UAB and FIU. The Warhawks are a combined 1-15 all-time against the five teams that make up the Blue Bracket of the CCSA Tournament. The lone victory came against Georgia State, which occurred on April 27, 2013. ULM squared off against two of the programs in the Blue Bracket during the season—UAB and Southern Miss—suffering two losses to the Blazers and one to the Golden Eagles.
Individually, the Warhawks will be led by
Audrey Brooks and
Julia Blazek, who notched the most wins (20) for ULM this season. The pair served as the No. 1 seed in every match for the Warhawks this season and established the program record for most wins in a single-season by a No. 1 pairing. They earned 15 of their 20 victories in two sets, while claiming two of their three-set wins by rebounding from an opening set loss to win the final two sets.
The 20 wins by Brooks and Blazek topped the program's previous mark (18) as No. 1 seeds, which was set by two pairs of ULM teammates including Marcela Araya and Michelle McNammee, who finished 18-3 all-time as a No. 1 pair of ULM, and
Grace Convey and
Gabby Love, who were 18-20 all-time as a No. 1 seed for the Warhawks. The winningest pair of any seeds by a ULM tandem is
Catherine Griffith and
Maile Sellers, who won 22 matches as a No. 2 seed for ULM.
Another key pairing for ULM is
Kayla Gallant and Abbie Elder, who are responsible for the most second-wins as a pair for ULM this season with 19. Gallant and Elder served as both the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds for ULM during the course of the 2021 season. They snagged the second-most wins of any ULM pair behind only Blazek and Brooks. Nine of those wins came as the No. 3 seed for the Warhawks and 15 victories came in two sets for Gallant and Elder.
Katie McKay was paired with three ULM teammates over the course of the season but had the most success alongside
Anna Demmer as the pair earned the third-most wins (15) of any Warhawk tandem in 2021. McKay also played one match with
Ina Gosen and one alongside
Kayla Gallant, both resulting in wins. With Demmer at her side, the duo notched 10 wins as a No. 3 seed and five as a No. 2 seed for ULM.
FIU ended its 2021 campaign with a 23-5 record that resulted in a 5-5 mark in league play. The Panthers enter the CCSA Tournament on an eight-match winning streak which began with a 3-2 win over Tulane on March 27. Four of the final eight victories came against ranked opposition for the Panthers, including No. 20 FGCU, No. 3 Florida State, No. 17 Stetson and No. 14 Florida Atlantic, all by 3-2 scores.
