NEW ORLEANS - Looking to bounce back from their 3-0 loss to Arkansas State the night before, the University of New Orleans volleyball team defeated UALR 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-17) on Friday night at the Human Performance Center.
Cassidy Asebroek put up a career-high 36 assists as UNO (12-7, 5-3 SBC) hit .333 for the match. Lindsey Loyd had 13 kills and Maria Szivos added another 10 for the Privateers.
On the defensive end, Dobrilla Kovacevic paced the efforts with nine digs while Nicky Valenti had another eight as UNO held UALR to .165 on the attack.
UALR (17-4, 6-2 SBC) who was swept for the first time in conference and only the second time this year was led by Anita Bucur who had 10 kills. Guiliana DeFrancesco had 26 assists while Amy Hafner led the team with eight digs.
The Privateers jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the first set. After dropping the next three straight, the teams tied three more times during the stanza until the Trojans took a lead at 15-14.
UALR would continue to maintain the lead through six more tie scores before UNO finally took the lead for good at 22-21. The Privateers would inch within a point of claiming the set on an errant attack by the visiting Trojans with an Asebroek dig finding a hole on the UALR side of the court for the final point of a 25-22 opening frame win.
Asebroek opened the second frame on serve as UNO reeled eight straight points off. Szivos had three kills during the run while Loyd tacked on two. The Privateer lead would stay at eight as UNO led 11-3 before a Trojan 4-0 rally would split it in half.
The Privateers would not look back in the set as they hit .364 in the frame compared to their Arkansas rivals who hit .067 on the attack en route to a 25-16 win.
Seeking to close out the match, UNO scored 5 of 7 to start the third frame for a three-point lead. The lead would expand to six at 10-4 on an Edina Dobi ace. The Privateers would maintain the lead on the back of a .500 hitting percentage in the stanza to close out UALR 25-17 in the frame.
The Privateers will hit the road for five straight SBC contests beginning with a Tuesday tilt in Lafayette, La. against I-10 rival Louisiana-Lafayette. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m start.
