STATESBORO, Ga. – Hadley Swartz collected 16 kills, 16 digs and two blocks, and ULM outlasted Georgia Southern 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 20-25, 25-23, 15-13) in a Sun Belt Conference volleyball match Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Megan Chevalier finished with 21 kills, 11 digs and three blocks to lead Georgia Southern (5-8, 0-2), while Ashley Jones notched 10 kills. Katie Bange tallied career highs of 42 assists and 22 digs to go along with four blocks, and Alex Beecher recorded 27 digs.

Hope Pawlik (10), Kaitlyn Shearer (10) and Taylor Zaeske (12) all reached double figures in kills for ULM (8-5, 1-0), which won its Sun Belt opener. Zaeske added nine blocks, and Tara Jenkins collected a match-high 29 digs. Bayleigh Hoffman tallied 48 assists and eight digs. The Warhawks had 18 blocks as a team and held the Eagles to .074 hitting.
 

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The storyline
The fifth set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. An Eagle hitting error gave ULM the lead for good, and a block by Kimberlie Alvarado and Pawlik made the score 13-11. Trailing 14-12, the Eagles fought off one match point before Pawlik put down a ball to end the match. Georgia Southern trailed 1-0 in the match and 23-21 in the second set, but scored two straight to tie it. Alvarado got a kill for the Warhawks after a long rally to make it set point, but Chevalier answered with a kill for the Eagles and after a block by Lauren Reichard and Stephanie Spencer, Chevalier put down a ball to tie the match 1-1. The Eagles used the momentum to roll in the 3rd set and led by as many as 11 points, but ULM fought back from a 16-12 deficit to win the fourth. That set featured nine ties and two lead changes.
 

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Quotable from Coach Dustin Wood
"We played really good defense today but couldn't put the ball away in transition. Our offense was stagnant and that was disappointing. We are looking for some answers on the outside, and we have a few options and changes we are going to look at this week. We will regroup and be better next week and improve on the things we need to do better."
 

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Next Up
Georgia Southern plays its final non-conference match of the season when the Eagles take on Florida Gulf Coast in Hanner Fieldhouse Friday at 5 p.m.

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