MIAMI ? The University of New Orleans volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Tournament thanks to a 3-1 win (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18) over Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday afternoon at FIU Arena.
Lindsey Loyd had a match-high 21 kills and 13 digs as No. 4 seed UNO (21-9) advanced to a 4 p.m. CT matchup with top seed Florida International on Friday.
The Privateers clinched a semifinal berth for the first time since 2004 and just the second time since reaching the tournament championship match in 2000.
UNO had four players record double-figure kills, as Maria Szivos had 15 kills and a .480 hitting percentage while Dobrilla Kovacevic tallied 13 kills along with 10 digs. Kaley Hubbard tied her career high with 12 kills and hit .409.
As a team, UNO hit .284 -- including .406 in the deciding fourth set.
Amila Barakovic led UALR (24-8) with 12 kills and 12 digs. She was the only Trojan to tally more than eight kills.
The Privateers fell behind 13-9 in the opening set before rallying with eight of the next nine points to take a 17-14 advantage. UALR could not get closer than two points during the rest of the set.
In Set Two, Loyd and Szivos combined for 10 kills and had just two errors as UNO jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Privateers never trailed in the set.
After UALR hit a match-best .323 in the third set to cut it to 2-1, the Privateers responded by taking four of the first five points in the fourth set.
UNO never trailed in the set and closed the match with a Szivos kill from setter Cassidy Asebroek.
Asebroek tied her career high with 44 assists.
Fans can follow the action via live stats on UNOPrivateers.com.
