
Volleyball Rallies from Early Deficit to Sweep ULM
10/6/2022 8:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MONROE, La. – Despite falling behind early in the first set on Thursday night, the Southern Miss (11-6, 3-2 Sun Belt) women's volleyball team rallied to sweep (26-24, 25-8, 25-23) ULM at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
ULM (6-13, 0-5 Sun Belt) got off to a five-point lead in the first set and was able to maintain it until the Golden Eagles came storming back thanks to a Mia Wesley kill that ignited a 5-1 run. From there, Southern Miss stayed within striking distance and finally took the lead after a Warhawk ball handling error made it 17-16 in favor of the road team. Back-to-back kills from Liana Guillemaud and Cara Atkinson helped set up the go-ahead point. Though a ULM would hit a 6-0 run to retake the lead late in the set, Southern Miss stayed composed and used three-straight Wesley kills to secure the 26-24 win.
There was no doubt about Southern Miss taking the second set after it used an 11-2 run to pull ahead 16-5. Wesley had four of her game-high 15 kills in that stretch. A pair of Gillian Hidalgo kills, and two ULM errors would give the Golden Eagles a 25-8 win in the second set. Southern Miss held ULM to a .000 hitting percentage in the second set, while the Black and Gold hit a match-high .308.
Although Southern Miss also took the third set, the two Sun Belt rivals faced 13 ties and five lead changes as ULM fought to force a fourth set. Southern Miss' third-set comeback was aided by a 5-1 run late in the set to narrow the ULM advantage to one, and then an Atkinson kill gave them the lead for good. Wesley sealed the match with a kill to move the Golden Eagles to 3-2 in Sun Belt play.
Atkinson finished her night with nine kills, while Madison Bowles had eight kills after going for only seven kills in her previous four matches combined. The graduate transfer finished with a season-high .615 hitting percentage. Guillemaud added another five kills.
Senior setter Kenzie Smith dished out 41 assists to go along with seven digs and a kill. Wesley added 12 digs to her stat line to finish with a double-double. The Golden Eagles hit .229 as a team for the match and held ULM to a .087 hitting percentage over the three sets.
The two teams will return to action on Friday afternoon with a first serve set for 2 p.m.
ULM (6-13, 0-5 Sun Belt) got off to a five-point lead in the first set and was able to maintain it until the Golden Eagles came storming back thanks to a Mia Wesley kill that ignited a 5-1 run. From there, Southern Miss stayed within striking distance and finally took the lead after a Warhawk ball handling error made it 17-16 in favor of the road team. Back-to-back kills from Liana Guillemaud and Cara Atkinson helped set up the go-ahead point. Though a ULM would hit a 6-0 run to retake the lead late in the set, Southern Miss stayed composed and used three-straight Wesley kills to secure the 26-24 win.
There was no doubt about Southern Miss taking the second set after it used an 11-2 run to pull ahead 16-5. Wesley had four of her game-high 15 kills in that stretch. A pair of Gillian Hidalgo kills, and two ULM errors would give the Golden Eagles a 25-8 win in the second set. Southern Miss held ULM to a .000 hitting percentage in the second set, while the Black and Gold hit a match-high .308.
Although Southern Miss also took the third set, the two Sun Belt rivals faced 13 ties and five lead changes as ULM fought to force a fourth set. Southern Miss' third-set comeback was aided by a 5-1 run late in the set to narrow the ULM advantage to one, and then an Atkinson kill gave them the lead for good. Wesley sealed the match with a kill to move the Golden Eagles to 3-2 in Sun Belt play.
Atkinson finished her night with nine kills, while Madison Bowles had eight kills after going for only seven kills in her previous four matches combined. The graduate transfer finished with a season-high .615 hitting percentage. Guillemaud added another five kills.
Senior setter Kenzie Smith dished out 41 assists to go along with seven digs and a kill. Wesley added 12 digs to her stat line to finish with a double-double. The Golden Eagles hit .229 as a team for the match and held ULM to a .087 hitting percentage over the three sets.
The two teams will return to action on Friday afternoon with a first serve set for 2 p.m.
Team Stats
USM
ULM
Kills
49
24
Errors
16
14
Attempts
144
115
Hitting %
.229
.087
Points
58
34
Assists
45
23
Aces
3
4
Blocks
6
6
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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