BOCA RATON, Fla. - A developing theme for the University of New Orleans
volleyball season continued on Saturday evening as the Privateers
defeated Florida Atlantic 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-12) at FAU Arena.
For UNO (15-9, 8-5 SBC), it was the third straight conference weekend in which the Privateers dropped their first match of the weekend before coming back the next time out and getting a win.
UNO, which is one win away from securing a Sun Belt Conference tournament bid, was led by
Dobrilla Kovacevic's 16 kills.
Lindsey Loyd and
Maria Szivos added 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Cassidy Asebroek and
Jaci Bayley split the setting duties as Asebroek had 20 assists with Bayley tacking on another 19.
Nicky Valenti had 16 digs.
Anne Vaughan had seven kills to pace FAU (11-14, 4-9 SBC). Nicole Gerig had 14 assists for the Owls while Casey Larocca had 10. Topping the defensive categories for the host team was Kristyna Dzmuranova with six digs.
The two teams battled in the first set with UNO taking an early advantage. After FAU pulled within one point at 17-16, the Privateers took off. UNO went on an 8-2 run with
Kaley Hubbard putting down two kills in the final three points as the Privateers took the opening set 25-18.
The momentum from the first stanza carried over into the second as UNO jumped out to an 8-4 lead, capped by a Szivos service ace. Eight straight Owls points later and the host squad had turned the tide around into a four-point advantage.
FAU would maintain the lead until the Privateers on a scored three straight points during a stretch to take a 17-16 advantage. The visitors from UNO did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set though failed to close out the frame until their fourth set point for a 25-23 victory.
Not risking a match that would have to go longer than three sets, the Privateers broke open a 4-4 tie in the third frame scoring six straight points to take a 10-4 lead.
After allowing a point to the Owls, UNO scored five straight points to take a commanding 15-5 lead. FAU would pull within nine once before the Privateers closed out the match with a 25-12 win in the final set.
UNO heads home from Florida to start off a stretch of games which will see Privateers play 4 of 5 at the Human Performance Center to close the season. The first match is against Denver at 7 p.m on Thursday night with live stats and video available through UNOPrivateers.com.
