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The Hawkeye

The Student News Site of University of Louisiana Monroe

The Hawkeye

The Student News Site of University of Louisiana Monroe

The Hawkeye

Volleyball beats LA Tech for 1st time in 26 years

Volleyball+beats+LA+Tech+for+1st+time+in+26+years

The Warhawks swept the Lady Techsters in three straight sets at the Thomas Assembly Center on Louisiana Tech’s campus Tuesday night. This marks the first time ULM has beaten La. Tech in 26 years.

Kacey LeBlanc led the way on defense with 18 digs as well as a pair of aces on offense.

“We had a lot of fun, and that’s when we play our best,” LeBlanc said.

“Truly a great night for ULM Volleyball and head coach Patrick Hiltz.”

While ULM did have miscues early on in the first set, which gave La. Tech the lead, ULM battled back with a couple quick points and an ace from LeBlanc to retake the lead.

Photo courtesy of ULM Athletics
          Photo courtesy of ULM Athletics

“We played relaxed,” coach Hiltz said.

“We didn’t let too many things bother us, and if we made an error, we let it go.”

La. Tech scored points to stay in the game, but it didn’t cool off the Warhawk offense as they went on a seven-point run to increase their lead to 11-6. Tech retaliated and pulled to within one point at 15-14. Scoring was back and forth for the rest of the match, but ULM prevailed 26-24 on a Sarah Woods’ kill.

Coach Hiltz said the Warhawks play style is what helped them start strong.

“We stayed aggressive which is the thing we talked about at the beginning of the game,” said coach Hiltz.

The Warhawks came out ready to play in the second set as they started the set 2-0 with a Tech miscue and an incredible dig by LeBlanc. The set was dead even for the next several volleys, but ULM started to pull away making the score 14-10. This forced Tech to take a time out to discuss their game plan. Tech attempted to comeback but fell short and ULM took set two by a final score of 25-22.

The Warhawks dominated for the majority of set three.

The offense didn’t miss a beat early on in the set as they were furious on the attack, and miscues on Tech’s side of the ball helped propel the Warhawks to a 9-3 lead.

The lead margin was steady through the next several volleys as the score got to 20-11 in ULM’s favor.

A stutter in the Warhawk’s offense allowed Tech to score five straight points.

At the close of the set, ULM came out on top 22-16.

LeBlanc credits all her teammates for her great performance on the night.

“Our block was super strong and forced all their hitters to hit to me, so it made my job easy,” LeBlanc said.

The Warhawks look to their next meeting against UALR at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Friday, October 14.

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