MATCHES 17-18: ULM WARHAWKS (4-12, 0-2) vs. SOUTH ALABAMA JAGUARS (11-3, 2-0)
6 p.m., Thursday, September 28, 2023 | 2 p.m., Friday, September 29, 2023 | Fant-Ewing Coliseum | Monroe, Louisiana
TV/STREAM: ESPN+ Thursday, ESPN+ Friday | LIVE STATS: Thursday, Friday
MATCH NOTES
MONROE, La. - The ULM volleyball team opens Sun Belt Conference play with a pair of matches at Texas State. The Bobcats have reached the championship match in the SBC in six-straight seasons entering the 2023 season. ULM is coming off a 3-1 loss at McNeese on Tuesday to round out non-conference play to sit at 4-10 overall. Texas State went 2-1 at the Jayhawk Invitational last weekend with wins over New Hampshire and Bellarmine to move to 7-4 on the year.
FOLLOW THE WARHAWKS -
Links to live video and stats for all matches are available on ULMWarhawks.com. Navigate to the volleyball schedule page and select that day's opponent.
BOTKIN CONTINUES STRONG FIRST HALF OF SEASON -
Sophomore
Brynn Botkin is second on ULM with 130 kills with a .188 hitting percentage (.142 career). She has a team-best 26 service aces and is fourth on the team in digs with 112. She has eight double-figure kill matches, five double-figure digs matches, and three double-doubles in 2023 including one last Friday against Texas State. She also ranks second in the Sun Belt in service aces per set with .49.
For the second-straight season, Botkin was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Battle For The Boot from September 15-16. Botkin put up 13 kills with six digs, three service aces and one block against Southeastern on Sept. 15. She added nine kills, 11 digs, two aces and two blocks against Southern on Sept. 15. She capped the tournament with seven kills while hitting .313 with five digs and an ace at Northwestern State on Sept. 16.
In the month of September, Botkin leads ULM with 130 kills while hitting .193 (career .142 hitter), with a team-best 26 aces and is third on the team with 109 digs. She has eight double-figure kill matches, five double-figure dig matches and three double-doubles in September, posting 12 kills and a season-high 17 digs against Indiana State on Sept. 1, 13 kills and 16 digs at McNeese on Sept. 19, and 15 kills and 16 digs last Friday at Texas State.
Botkin also was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Lindenwood Invitational. Botkin totaled 30 kills (2.3 per set) and 29 digs (2.2 per set) in the three-match event. She opened the tournament with 12 kills and a season-high 17 digs against Indiana State on Sept. 1. She added seven kills and 11 digs against Lindenwood on Sept. 1 before capping the tournament with 11 kills and one dig against Austin Peay on Sept. 2.
ROBERSON TOPS 1,000 ASSISTS -
Sophomore setter
Bailey Roberson made history at the New Orleans Invitational when she passed 1,000 career assists, becoming only the fifth Warhawk ever to do so in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present). She currently stands at 1,157 career assists (6.57 per set), which places her fourth all-time in the 25-point rally scoring era. She leads the Warhawks in 2023 with 322 assists (4.95 per set). She has surpassed 20 assists nine times this season and has five assist-dig double-doubles in 2023 with the latest one being against Texas State (23 assists, 12 digs). The Decatur, Texas, native had 835 assists as a true freshman in 2022, the fourth-most for ULM in a single season since the start of the 25-point rally scoring era.
Roberson also was named to the New Orleans Invitational All-Tournament Team with 40 assists over two matches against Southern and UNO.
JEFFUS LEADS THE ATTACK -
Middle blocker
Logan Jeffus has been one of the most productive players for the Warhawks in 2023. Jeffus leads the Warhawks with 144 kills with a .298 average. She has 31 total blocks (10 solo, 21 assist) and 43 career blocked shots. She ranks fourth in the 25-point rally scoring era with 43 career block solos. She has reached double digit kills six times in 2023.
She has been named to two All-Tournament teams this season. She was named Most Valuable Player of the New Orleans Invitational (Sept. 8-9) after leading the team with nine kills and two blocks vs. Southern on Sept. 8 and added a career-high matching 16 kills with two blocks on Sept. 9 at UNO. She hit a career high .615 (9-1-13) against Southern before topping it against UNO at .652 (16-1-23). Her .652 hitting percentage against UNO broke her own school-record hitting percentage for a four-set match in the 25-point rally scoring era.
Jeffus was named to the All-Tournament Team at the EIU Panther Invitational to open the season on Aug. 25-26. She had 25 kills over three matches, including a career-high 16 in the five set win against Akron on Aug. 25.
ROGERS DIGGING HER WAY TO SBC LEADERS LIST -
Junior defensive specialist/libero
Cameron Rogers is the team leader in digs. Rogers leads the Sun Belt in total digs with 259 and ranks fifth in the conference in digs per set with 4.11. She had reach double-digit digs in each of the last 13 matches, and topped 20 digs in four of those matches. She totaled a career-high 27 digs in ULM's five-set win over Akron on Aug. 25 and matched that number on Tuesday at McNeese. Rogers was named Libero of the Tournament at the New Orleans Invitational (Sept. 8-9) with 32 total digs across two matches.
Rogers has totaled 926 digs throughout two-plus seasons at ULM. She is 27 digs shy of placing herself in ULM's Top-5 digs list in the 25-point rally scoring era. She enters the series at Texas State 52 digs shy of qualifying for ULM's Top-5 digs list in the 25-point rally scoring era, trailing
Albany Schaffer's 953 digs from 2016-19. Rogers is on pace to become just the fourth Warhawk in the 25-point rally scoring era to reach 1,000 career digs, which has only been achieved by Marcela Araya (1,896, 2011-14),
Kacey LeBlanc (1,113, 2015-17) and Christy Tribble (1,025, 2008-10).
Rogers also is climbing ULM's career service aces list. She is one service ace away from
Kacey LeBlanc, who is fifth on ULM's all-time list in the 25-point rally scoring era.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? -
ULM freshman outside hitter
Ariana Brown is third on the team with 125 kills (2.16 per set). She has reached double-digit kills in six matches, including a season-high 14 kills in the five-set win over Akron on Aug. 25. She tallied 12 kills and a season-high eight digs at Grambling on Aug. 29 and added 13 kills and seven digs vs. Austin Peay on Sept. 2. She picked up 10 kills and a season-high three blocks on Tuesday at McNeese.
ROAD WARRIORS -
The 2023 season has involved a good amount of time on the team bus. The Warhawks traveled on the road for the first 16 games of the season and are making their first appearance in Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Thursday vs. South Alabama. A similar scenario happened last season when ULM only played one home game in 14 non-conference games.
KEARNS TAKES CONTROL -
Head coach Matt Kearns is in the middle of his first season as a collegiate head coach at ULM. Kearns was a graduate assistant coach and assistant coach for six seasons for Northern Kentucky. While he was there, the Norse posted a 108-69 record. Before that, he was a student coach and technical advisor at Xavier from 2013-2017.
JEFFUS, THOMAS, ROBERSON, ROGERS HEADLINE RETURNERS -
Top returners for the Warhawks include middle blocker
Logan Jeffus, outside hitter
Taylor Thomas, setter
Bailey Roberson and defensive specialist/libero
Cameron Rogers.
Jeffus had 24 block solos in 2022, which ranks third-most in a single season for ULM in the 25-point rally scoring era (since 2008). Her 33 career block solos rank fifth in the same time span. She also finished third in single season hitting percentage last season at .284
Thomas recorded 186 kills, which ranked third on the team, and 278 assists, the second highest in the club in 2022.
Roberson racked up 835 assists in 2022, which ranks fourth in a single season in the 25-point rally scoring era for ULM.
Rogers tallied 442 digs as a sophomore in 2022, which is fifth-most in a single season for ULM in the 25-point rally scoring era.
DEPTH PROVIDED BY BIG RETURNING GROUP -
In addition to the four returners highlighted above, ULM has six more returners on the roster. Outside hitter
Emily Adams returns after playing in 52 sets over 25 matches last season. Outside hitter/right side
Brynn Botkin piled up 181 kills last year while playing in 106 sets over 31 matches. Defensive specialist
Callie Humphrey saw time in 108 sets over 31 matches, picking up 210 digs. Outside hitter/right side
Lydia Mesusan saw increased playing time late in the 2022 season, playing in 36 sets over 18 matches. Outside hitter/defensive specialist
Sandlin Short saw limited action, playing in nine sets over six matches. Right side/middle blocker
Madeline Villarreal returns after playing in 38 sets over 14 matches. Villarreal missed the last six weeks of the 2022 season with an injury.
TALL FRESHMEN GROUP LOOKS TO MAKE IMMEDIATE IMPACT -
Matt Kearns will work with eight freshmen newcomers in 2023. Seven of the eight players stand 6-0 or taller, including middle blocker
Kenzie Behl (6-0), outside hitter
Ariana Brown (6-0), right-side hitter
Addison Chapman (6-3), setter
Morgan Howard (6-0), outside hitter
Maddie Peterson (6-0), middle blocker
Hannah Redrow (6-2) and middle blocker
Kylie Stehlin (6-2). Only defensive specialist/libero
Olivia Sanchez (5-9) stands under 6-0. Six of the eight newcomers also come from Texas, while Peterson comes to ULM from Florida and Stehlin is from Missouri.
A LOOK AHEAD -
The Warhawks finally make an appearance in Fant-Ewing Coliseum next week when they play their home opening series against Sun Belt Conference foe South Alabama at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 and 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29.
