ULM volleyball (4-16; 0-6 Sun Belt Conference) continues to struggle in conference play with its most recent doubleheader loss to Southern Mississippi (7-10; 2-4 SBC.)
Thursday’s first set began with a three-point run by the Golden Eagles. The two teams traded points with Southern Miss slowly extending its lead. A kill by Brynn Botkin set up a 3-point run by the Warhawks, but the Golden Eagles responded by taking eight of the next nine points.
A 5-point run plagued with service aces by the Golden Eagles and attacking errors by the Warhawks brought the set to match point. With Southern Miss leading 24-16, an attack error by the Golden Eagles looked to bring ULM back to life. Unfortunately for the Warhawks, another service error put the comeback on the back burner.
Southern Miss dominated set two, and the Golden Eagles returned every ULM point with two or more of their own. Bailey Roberson sparked a five-point run that kept the set at match point. No matter their readiness, another costly service error inhibited the Warhawk’s ability to close out the match.
Set three mimicked the previous two, with the Golden Eagles taking the lead early and holding on tightly. After a service error by Southern Miss, Botkin helped to close the gap to 21-16 with two service aces.
The Golden Eagles once again reversed the momentum of the match and closed out the set after breaking up a run with a service error.
Friday’s first set looked to turn the pace of the series around. Logan Jeffus had three kills that assisted the Warhawks in obtaining a 7-2 lead.
Costly blocking errors allowed the Golden Eagles to shrink their deficit. Botkin recorded another kill and a service ace to impede Southern Miss’s comeback, but the set quickly became a 15-15 tie.
Southern Miss went on a 6-point run to pull ahead, capitalizing off two attack errors by ULM. Another kill by Botkin only postponed the Golden Eagles taking the first set.
Both teams spent much of set two exchanging the lead rapidly. Neither the Warhawks nor the Golden Eagles extended their lead beyond two points during most of the set.
It wasn’t until a blocking error by ULM that Southern Miss truly pushed to finish the set, scoring seven of the next eight points. Jeffus, along with teammate Lydia Mesusan, picked up a kill each to stop the Golden Eagles, but Southern Miss closed out the set 25-21 off a service error by the Warhawks.
The third set began just as closely as the previous, but Southern Miss picked up an early lead due to a service error and two ULM attack errors.
Ariana Brown tried to bring the Warhawks back by starting a 4-point run which also included two additional kills by Jeffus. Madeline Villareal helped give the Warhawks a 24-23 lead by capping off a 3-point run with a kill.
Despite their best efforts, the Warhawks could not endure kill after kill by the Golden Eagles, and Southern Miss took the final set 27-25 as well as a sweep of the doubleheader.
The Warhawks are on the road again, this time facing the Appalachian State Mountaineers (10-7; 1-5 Sun Belt) in Boone, North Carolina on Friday and Saturday.
