Stephen F. Austin
Louisiana-Monroe
ULM Stuns Ladyjacks
8/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2011
MONROE, La. - The Ladyjack volleyball team got 21 kills and 17 digs from freshman Katzy Randall, but could not hold back an upstart ULM squad as the Warhawks downed the previously unbeaten Ladyjacks, 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 15-25, 15-11), on Wednesday at the ULM Activity Center.
ULM (2-0), who snapped a 40-match losing streak dating back to 2009 on Tuesday with a five-set win over McNeese in its season opener, pulled off an even more unthinkable feat with its win over the Ladyjacks (4-1) on Wednesday. The Warhawks picked up just their fourth win all-time over SFA and snapped a 34-match losing streak to the Ladyjacks which dated back to 1989.
The Warhawks hit just .118 for the match, but it was SFA that was it's own worst enemy as the Ladyjacks hit just .131 for the match and committed 14 more attack errors than the Warhawks, despite finishing with 18 more kills than the home team.
Aside from Randall, only sophomore Leslie Jackson was able to reach double figures in kills with 12, although five of those came in the final set. SFA finished with 22 more assists, 19 more digs and was even in the blocks category with the Warhawks for the match. Paige Holland finished with 47 assists and Madison Hanlan had a match-high 28 digs.
SFA led for the majority of set one with ULM not taking a lead until the 24-23 mark on one of Blanca Ocana's team-high 16 kills before sneaking away with 26-24 win in the first set. The Ladyjacks quickly evened things up with a narrow win in the second set, despite hitting just .091 for the frame, but also holding ULM to -.049.
In the third set the Ladyjacks hammered home 13 kills, but shot themselves in the foot with a like amount of attack errors. Still, SFA had things all square at 17-17 before ULM went on its biggest run of the match, an 8-3 spurt to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead.
However, it did not take long for the Ladyjacks to send the match to a deciding fifth set, dominating the fourth frame by a 10-point margin, the most lopsided of any in the match. SFA hit .226 behind seven kills from Randall while ULM could not muster any more than just six kills.
But ULM saved its best for the finale and did not misfire a single time in the race to 15, making up a quick 4-1 deficit before finally pulling away after a back-and-forth set saw things tied up as late as the 10-10 mark.
The Ladyjacks will continue its road trip on Friday when it opens up the Skyhawk Invitational versus Illinois State before taking on host Tennessee-Martin in the Friday nightcap. After closing out the tournament against UAB on Saturday, SFA will take on former Southland rival North Texas in Denton in a Labor Day matinee match.
-SFA-
