FIRST SERVE –
ULM volleyball hosts Marshall for it's Sun Belt home opener in b1 Bank Fant Coliseum. The Warhawks and Thundering Herd will face off on Friday, October 2 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, October 3 at 1 p.m.

FOLLOW THE WARHAWKS – 
Live streaming on ESPN+ will be available for each match. Links to the live stream can be found at ulmwarhawks.com, and a link to live stats can be found on ulmwarhawks.com as well. Navigate to the volleyball schedule and select the desired match.

SCOUTING THE THUNDERING HERD – 
Marshall enters the weekend undefeated in conference play, after defeating Georgia State 3-2 in both matches of Sun Belt opening weekend. The Thundering Herd have won their last four consecutive matches, after beating Morehead State in two matches before taking on the Panthers. 

Third Year Maddie Smith leads her team with 3.42 kills per set, a mark that's eighth best in the conference, while Setter Kahea Carvalho ranks fifth in the Sun Belt with 7.46 assists per set. On the defensive side, Emma Sayre places seventh in the conference in digs per set (4.06), and Beatrice Ciccarelli's 1.19 blocks per set rank her at seventh as well.

CLEAR THE HALL –
Outside Hitter Aniya Hall recorded 19 kills in ULM's conference opening series against Arkansas State. She matched her career-high aces (3) in the second match against the Red Wolves, bringing her season total to 17, a mark that's second-most for the Warhawks. Hall also made nine digs and two blocks in the series finale. She comes in at 76th in the country in attacks per set (10.16), which is fourth in the Sun Belt, and leads ULM with 147 kills on the year. Her 3.34 kills per set rank 10th in the conference. 

Hall made 37 kills across the Warhawks' final weekend of nonconference play, averaging 3.36 kills per set. She put up a stellar first set against North Dakota, making nine kills and hitting .615 (9-1-13). She notched double digit kills in back-to-back matches against Lamar (12) and North Dakota (16), bringing her to eight double-digit matches on the season.

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS – 
Setters Morgan Howard and Bre Perrin have had an efficient first half of the season working in tandem to help the Warhawk offense. The two have recorded only six errors each. Howard has started in each of the Warhawks' games this season, and leads the team with 289 assists. Perrin has appeared in 12 of the 15 matches, and follows Howard with 194 assists. 

In the Warhawks' second match against Arkansas State last weekend, Perrin recorded her fourth double-double of the season, leading the team in both assists (15) and digs (11).  Howard has put up double-figure assists in every match this year, with a season-high 36 against East Texas A&M (8/30). Each setter has notched four kills on the season as well. 

FRESHMAN PHENOM –
Tatum Clay continues to impress as she settles into the season. The first-year is the only Warhawk to have played in every set (53) of each match so far this season (15). Clay is up to 55 total blocks on the season, and 18 aces, both of which are team-highs for the Warhawks. The middle blocker is hitting .331 (65-15-151) on the season.

She hit a career-high .636 (7-0-11) against North Dakota (9/19), and added four aces for another personal best. She recorded 14 total blocks across 11 sets of action the last weekend of nonconference play, averaging of 1.27 blocks per set. The first-year made a career-high four solo blocks against Sam Houston (9/18), and put up six total blocks in two straight to match her career-high (9/18). She added another solo block in ULM's sweep over Lamar, in addition to her five block assists against the Cardinals.

STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE –
Second-year Eden Pietrzak has taken over the libero position, having stepped into the role during ULM's match against GCU (9/4), and starting all 10 matches there since. Since taking over, she notched double-digit digs in nine consecutive matches, with a career-high 19 against Northwestern State (9/11). She checks in with 177 digs on the season after the first week of Sun Belt play. Pietrzak has also made 14 aces for third most on the team, and made a career-high four against McNeese (9/10).

UP NEXT –
The Warhawks will hit the road next week, facing Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, October 5, before heading to Troy to continue conference play with matches on Friday (Oct. 9) and Saturday (Oct. 10).