Coming off another road loss last week against Northwestern State, ULM volleyball headed up to Conway Arkansas in hopes to change their luck against Alcorn State and Incarnate Word.
After the loss against Northwestern State head coach Patrick Hiltz wished he could have seen the positive attitude stay the same.
“Last weekend, whether we were winning or losing, the attitude stayed up. Tonight it dropped off when things stopped going our way,” said Hiltz.
Still looking for their first win the Warhawks came out strong in their first set against Alcorn State.
After getting the first point of the match, the Warhawks continued to keep up the success and went on a nine point run before going on to win the set (25-9).
Long runs would be the theme of the match for ULM as they started the second set on a 12-0 run led by freshmen outside hitter, Grace Convey. With another dominating performance and the team hitting 85 percent, the Warhawks went on to take the second set (25-7).
“It was nice to see everyone play well. The energy was very high throughout the match both on the court as well as on the bench. When we have fun, we play well,” said Hiltz.
Mistakes were the biggest difference for the teams in the match against Alcorn State. No attackers recorded errors in the match for ULM while Alcorn State recorded 18 total errors.
In the third set, Alcorn State broke double digits on the scoreboard, but ULM regrouped and went on another eight point run late to take the set (25-11) and win the match 3-0.
Hiltz was happy with how his team performed in their first win of the season.
“Serving was very good and our hitters did an excellent job, “ said Hiltz.
“I am hopeful we can carry some momentum over into the next match. I have no reason to believe that we won’t.”
With their first win behind them the team now looked to continue their solid play against Incarnate Word. While they were a much tougher opponent, ULM came out with strong performances by Hope Pawlik and Kalena Curthers who combined, recorded 19 kills.
In the first set, the Warhawks defensive play helped them overcome the Incarnate Word and they won a close battle, (25-18).
In the second set, the Warhawks took a 6-1 lead early and didn’t look back with Kacey LeBlanc’s seven digs leading the way. ULM kept up their defensive work and went on to win the set (25-15).
With a total of nine ties in the third set, the Warhawks were tested greatly. After the teams were tied at 21, ULM pulled away late and left Incarnate Word behind winning the set (25-22) and the match 3-0.
“When they caught us at 21 we stayed calm, stayed in the moment and played with great composure. We beat a good team today. It should only fuel our confidence,” said Hiltz.
ULM Volleyball looks to continue their success this weekend in Arkansas as they head to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
