FIRST SERVE –

ULM volleyball (7-11, 1-3) travels to Alabama to take on Troy (8-5, 3-1) for the third Sun Belt series of the season. The two teams will face off on Friday, October 9 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, October 10 at 2 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 TROJANS –

Troy enters the weekend coming off of two wins over Southern Miss, both in 3-1 fashion. Troy is 6-2 at home ahead of hosting the Warhawks.

Kalina Calvillo leads the team with 154 kills, which places her at ninth in the Sun Belt with 3.35 kills per set. Middle Ashlynn Axtell ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage (.374), while second-year Madison Marx is eighth with 6.09 assists per set. The Trojans also have two players in the Sun Belt's top-ten from the service line. Calvillo is fifth with .43 per set, and Olivia Kwiatkowski is ninth with .41.

The Trojans and Warhawks have shared an opponent this season, both facing Northwestern State. Troy defeated the Demons 3-0, while ULM split a two-match series, winning 3-0 at home and falling 1-3 at a neutral site.

SERIES HISTORY –

Friday's and Saturday's meetings between the Warhawks and the Trojans will be the twenty ninth and thirtieth in program history. Troy leads the all-time series 5-23.

The two teams split the two-match series in Monroe last season, with ULM winning the first match 3-1, and Troy taking the second 3-0. Warhawks returner Morgan Howard combined for 55 assists between the two matches, and Briana Raney combined for 24 digs.

LAST TIME OUT –

The Warhawks enter the matchup on a two-game winning streak, which is the first time ULM has won back-to-back matches this season. ULM split the weekend conference series against Marshall to earn their first Sun Belt win of the season, and sweeping Arkansas-Pine Bluff on the road. The Warhawks fell 1-3 on Friday (Oct. 2) but came storming back to win 3-2 on Saturday (Oct. 3) against the Thundering Herd.

Second-year Aniya Hall led ULM's offense against Marshall, combining for 27 kills on the weekend, while setter Bre Perrin notched 42 assists with no errors. Kenzie Behl contributed a career-high 13 kills during Saturday's win, for her first double-digit match of the year. Libero Eden Pietrzak made 27 digs between the two matches, and added 14 assists on the offensive end. 

ULM hit a season-best .333 (39-9-90) against the Lady Lions and held UAPB to -.035 hitting (2-23-86), also a season best. The final nonconference matchup of the season against the Lady Lions saw multiple players notch career/personal bests.

Abby Cunningham led the Warhawk offense with 11 kills, committing just one error to hit a career-high .476 (11-1-21). Aniya Hall hit a career-high .467 (8-1-15) as well, making eight kills. Hall added a team-high 14 digs against the Lady Lions. Tatum Clay matched her career-high four solo blocks, and the middle blocker contributed a personal-best four digs. Libero Eden Pietrzak put up two aces for the Warhawks.

DIGGING DEEP –

The Warhawks rank 18th nationally in team digs with 993, a mark that's good for first in the Sun Belt. Libero Eden Pietrzak leads the team with 210, and Aniya Hall and Briana Raney follow with 142 each. Setters Morgan Howard and Bre Perrin are contributing 122 and 114, respectively.   

CLEAR THE HALL –

Outside Hitter Aniya Hall is up to 182 kills on the season, a mark that puts her at tenth in the Sun Belt with 3.27 kills per set. She also comes in at tenth in the conference with 3.75 points per set, with a team-leading total of 210.5 points on the year.

Hall recorded 35 kills across the Warhawks' last three matches, and has put up double-digit kills in 11 of ULM's 18 matches so far this season. The outside hitter has the second-most digs on the team, coming in with 142, second only to libero Eden Pietrzak, and has the second-most aces for the Warhawks at 18.

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 just 16 combined errors. Howard has started in each of the Warhawks' games this season, and leads the team with 336 assists. Perrin has appeared in 15 of the 18 matches, and follows Howard with 246 assists.

In the Warhawks' first match against Marshall last weekend, Perrin recorded her fifth double-double of the season, leading the team in both assists (21) and digs (13) (10/2). 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 establish herself halfway through her freshman season. The first-year is the only Warhawk to have played in every set (65) of each match so far this season (18). Clay is up to 67 total blocks on the season, and 24 aces, both of which are team-highs for the Warhawks. Her 1.11 blocks per set places her tenth in the Sun Belt. The middle blocker is hitting .326 (79-20-181) on the season.

She hit .571 (9-1-14) in ULM's win over Marshall, adding three aces and three blocks (10/3). This hitting percentage is third-best in program history in a five-set match. The middle blocker made a career-best four digs, and rejected a team-high five Lady Lion swings against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, four of which were solo blocks (10/5).

Against North Dakota, Clay hit .636 (7-0-11), which is the second-best mark during a four-set match in program history. She also made four aces, which ties her for third-most in a four-set match in program history. Both of her matches with four solo blocks (Sam Houston 9/18 and Arkansas Pine Bluff 10/5) place her in the record book as well. In the three-set match against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, her four solo stuffs are most in program history.