DENVER - Denver won their seventh straight match as they defeated the
University of New Orleans 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 32-30) on Friday night at
Hamilton Gymnasium.
UNO
(8-5, 1-2 SBC) struggled on serve throughout the match including eight
service errors during a close third set that kept the Privateers from
pushing the match into a fourth set.
Dobrilla Kovacevic and
Lindsey Loyd, who had 13 and 12 kills, respectively led the UNO attack.
Cassidy Asebroek directed the offense with 33 assists. Nicky Valenti
continued her move up the school record book with a Privateer-high of
17 digs.
In addition to seven match win streak, DU (13-2, 2-0
SBC) extended their home win streak to seven straight matches, dating
back to last year's conference tournament.
Holly Benson notched
a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs while Clare Maxwell had 31
assists to lead the Pioneers. Jacqueline Paul had a hand in seven
blocks for DU.
The host Pioneers came out swinging in the first
set, hitting .571 on the attack with 13 kills and just one error in 21
attempts.
DU took a 3-2 lead early in the frame and would not
look back, letting UNO within one at 7-6 before a 6-0 Pioneer run put
the frame out of reach as DU would close the set with a 25-17 opening
frame victory.
With the Privateers down 5-3 in the second set,
it looked as if DU may pull away once more. That would not be the case
as the team went on a 4-0 run on Kovacevic's serve to take a brief lead.
After
a tie at 10-10, the DU would finally pull away, building a lead as much
as five at 19-14 and holding a late UNO rally off for a 25-22 set win.
Kaley
Hubbard was the bright spot during the two opening sets, hitting down
seven kills in 10 attempts as UNO trailed 2-0 heading into the break.
Eight
services errors in the third set would keep the Privateers from
building a large lead on the host squad and even take away a chance for
a set win at one point. While UNO led for a majority of the set, their
lead never grew more than two points.
The Privateers held off
five match points during the set and had two set point opportunities of
their own. Unfortunately, service errors came to haunt UNO, who
eventually gave DU a sixth and final match point on the eighth service
error of the frame.
UNO will next hit the court in Denton, Texas
on Sunday when they face the Mean Green of North Texas at 1 p.m. Live
stats will be available through UNOPrivateers.com.
