MONROE, La. — The ULM volleyball team (8-15, 2-7) defeated Louisiana Tech (7-16, 0-9) in straight sets (25-21, 25-12, 25-22) to pick up its second conference win of the season. The victory was the first in the volleyball rendition of the Radiance Technologies I-20 Showdown Series. Â
Aniya Hall produced a stellar performance, making a game-high 16 kills and hitting a career-high .500. She added three aces, four digs and two blocks. Â
The Warhawks outhit the Bulldogs .245 to .140 and made 45 digs to Louisiana Tech's 36. Â
The first set was close early, with the Bulldogs taking a 6-5 advantage. ULM broke out to a large lead, scoring seven straight to make it 12-6, capitalized by an Eden Pietrzak ace. The Warhawks continued to grow their lead, scoring another six consecutive points to make it 19-9, and force a Bulldog timeout. Louisiana Tech managed to cut the deficit to three points, but a Tatum Clay kill sealed the set at 25-21 Warhawks. Â
ULM carried the momentum into the second set, suffocating the Bulldogs with nine kills to lead 12-1. Back-to-back points from Aniya Hall in the form of an ace and a kill made it 15-2 at the break. Louisiana tech tried to get back into the set, but the lead was too large, with the Warhawks taking a commanding 25-12 win. The 13-point victory is the most points the Bulldogs have lost by in a set in Sun Belt play this season, and the most points the Warhawks have won by during the conference slate. Â
Louisiana Tech took its largest lead of the match to open the third set, taking a 9-1 run into the media timeout to go up 15-9. The Warhawks took a 10-2 run coming out of the break to reclaim the lead at 19-17. The run was highlighted by two Aniya Hall solo blocks and aces by Bre Perrin and Tatum Clay. ULM finished the match on a three-point streak, which was three Bulldog errors, to win the set 25-22 and claim another conference win. Â
The Warhawks will return to the court tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the ULM Activity Center to face the Bulldogs in match two of the series. Â
