MONROE, La – The ULM volleyball team dropped its first Sun Belt conference match of the 2024 season with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21) loss to Southern Miss on Friday.
 
The Golden Eagles (5-8, 1-0) started set one on fire with a 10-2 run. With the score at 13-5, the Warhawks (4-9, 0-1) rallied with six points in a row to cut the lead to two.
 
Within the rally, Cameron Rogers produced her 77^th career service ace, moving her to second place in the ULM all-time career service ace list.
 
Southern Miss increased the lead to four before a 7-2 run brought forward a 24-15 lead with set point. A final kill gave the Golden Eagles the set.
 
The second set started much closer than the first. The biggest run for each team was a 3-0 run by the Warhawks, and the lead was no greater than three. ULM held a late 21-20 lead, but five straight USM points ended the set and gave the Golden Eagles a 2-0 match lead.
 
After a 4-4 score to start set three, ULM went on a 6-2 scoring run to take a four-point lead. Another 5-1 scoring run gave the Warhawks control of the set with a 15-9 score.
 
With a 21-16 lead, ULM was on the verge of closing out the set, but the Golden Eagles responded with fire and scored the remaining nine points to steal the set and secure the sweep.
 
Ariana Brown was the leader in kills with 7. Morgan Howard produced 17 assists, and Kali Walker tallied 14 digs with Rogers having 12.
 
ULM and Southern Miss play game two tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.