That was the goal for first year LSUS volleyball head coach, Callie Houlihan, coming into this weekend. By the time Saturday was in the books, the Pilots looked pretty close to it. 

The Pilots went 2-0 in their first home weekend stretch, sweeping the Texas College Steers on both days and not dropping a single set. The Pilots would open their home schedule Friday, September 11th with a 3-0 set win before returning the very next day, Saturday September 12th putting together another dominant performance leading to another 3-0 victory at the Dock. 

The Pilots would waste no time setting the tone early Friday night, quickly jumping to a 5-0 lead in the first set, before capitalizing even more, extending the lead to 10-0. The Pilots would continue to feed off the home court advantage, thanks to our packed house at the Dock, closing out the first set 25-7. 

As the second set went underway, the hometown crowd started to roar and come alive even more. This allowed the Pilots to score seven straight points in the second set after Texas College tied it up 1-1 in the beginning. The Pilots would remain in cruise control building their lead to 17-4, before closing out the second set 25-8. 

Texas College would begin to show signs of life in the third set, taking an early 4-1 advantage, their first lead of the match, but the Pilots would quickly tie the score 4-4 and both teams would remain neck and neck early on, until the Pilots would go onto a 8-2 run that would give LSUS a 19-11 advantage. The Pilots then would close out the final set, 25-11 completing the opening night sweep earning them the victory in convincing fashion. 

Zamariya Lyons led the Pilots with nine kills while hitting a .533. Lyons would go onto contribute two service aces and three blocks at the net. Tamara Bojanic added eight kills on 14 attacks, while hitting a .500, while Ceylin Saracoglu finished with seven kills, two service aces and two blocks at the net. Logan Hamilton would also make her presence felt known recording seven kills while hitting .462. Two time Red River Athletic Conference Setter of the week award winner, Farah Helmy guided the Pilots offense with 32 assists, while adding on two kills and three service aces on the night. Starting libero, Savanna Young contributed five service aces and six digs for the Pilots on defense. 

Thanks to the sponsor from Whataburger, all home games for the inaugural LSUS Volleyball season will be free of charge, allowing everyone from all over Shreveport to get their chance to see these Pilots in action at the Dock. In between the second and third set, Whataburger gave one lucky Pilots fan free Whataburger for 365 days. To be lucky enough to get the chance to win a free Whataburger for a year, all you had to do was be the loudest fan in the section. The winner, Ainsley from Shreveport, Louisiana, made her voice heard from the stands and sealed the deal by throwing a large french fry into a Whataburger fry cup, winning the free Whataburger for a whole calendar year. Our Whataburger player of the game would be awarded to Zamariya Lyons after her standout performance and contributions to the team's victory Friday night. 

The Pilots would return Saturday afternoon, picking up where they left off from Friday, sweeping Texas College again with set victories of, 25-6, 25-12, and 25-11. 

Bojanic would lead the Pilots with 12 kills on 14 attacks at the net while hitting .714. Helmy added on five kills with 24 assists, while Lyons finished with nine kills and hit .467. Hamilton recorded seven kills while hitting .700, with Hannah Pereira contributing four kills for the Pilots. 

The Pilots as a team would dominate the stat sheet as a collective team. Finishing with 40 kills on 71 total attacks for a combined .380 hitting percentage. LSUS also recorded 35 assists, 18 service aces, and 28 defensive digs. The Pilots serving was a major difference maker on Saturday afternoon, with LSUS recording 18 service aces compared to Texas College, who recorded just one service ace in the match. 

After two straight sweeps for the Pilots, LSUS jumps to 2-0 record in Red River Athletic Conference play, and plenty of momentum heading into the rest of this inaugural season. For a team still trying to build their identity, this weekend was a strong step forward becoming the well oiled machine Coach Houlihan has envisioned from the start of season. 

The LSUS Pilots will be back in action next weekend, September 18th-19th, as they travel to Hobbs, New Mexico as they take on the Southwest Mustangs. The Pilots will return to the Dock, September 25th-26th as they host the Texas A&M Texarkana Eagles for more Red River Athletic Conference play.