LUBBOCK, Texas - The
University of New Orleans volleyball team bounced back from a Friday loss in
defeating Texas Tech 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 27-29, 25-18) on Saturday afternoon in
the Texas Tech Red Raider Roundup.
UNO (6-2) was led by Maria Szivos who had 15 kills for the match. Lindsey Loyd
and Dobrilla Kovacevic followed with 14 and 12, respectively.
Jaci Bayley had her 99th career match with at least 10 assists as she had 38
against the Red Raiders while Nicky Valenti had 13 digs from the back row.
The Privateer defense had a
season-high nine blocks with Edina Dobi having a hand in a career-high five
blocks as the middle blocker made her first start of the season.
The victory for UNO over Tech represents the first win by a Privateer team
against a team from the current Big XII conference since 1982 when the
Privateers beat Baylor on Oct. 15 of that year in the Sam Houston State
Invitational. The team had lost their previous eight matches against Big XII
schools.
Tech (3-6) was led by Brandi Hood and Amanda Dowdy, who had 13 and 12 kills
respectively. Michelle Flores had 11 kills for the Red Raiders, who were led in
the assist category by Caroline Witte with 38. Defensively, Jenn Harrell led
Tech with 10 digs.
The first set saw the Privateers fall behind early starting with a Szivos
attack error. The freshman outside hitter rebounded from the opening error with
six kills in the opening frame as her team came back from as many as four
points down as late in the set as 17-13.
From that point, UNO scored 10 of 11 points to take their first lead of the set
with Kaley Hubbard had two kills during the run. A reverse of the customary
roles closed out the set on the first chance to close out the Red Raiders in
the frame as a Bayley scored on a pass from Szivos to give the Privateers a
25-23.
Loyd had five kills in the second set for UNO, who outhit Tech .423 to .077.
The Privateers were tied at 12 apiece with the host squad before scoring 13 of
16 points down the stretch capitalizing on a slew of Tech attack errors.
After the break, UNO came out with intentions of sweeping the Red Raiders and
started off with a lead early in a frame for the first time during the match,
building a lead as large as five at 14-9. Tech would not let the Privateers
take the match as a tie at 17 was the first of nine ties late in the set until
a Szivos error gave the Red Raiders a 29-27 victory in extra points.
Once more, UNO had a chance to close out the host team and would not let the
results of the set prior occur again. The Privateers quickly built a five-point
advantage on the Red Raiders and finished the match off with three consecutive
kills, two of which came from Kovacevic as UNO defeated Tech 25-18 to win the
match.
The Privateers will look for their second consecutive win over a Big XII institution when they face Oklahoma at 11 a.m on Sunday morning. The Sooners are 2-0 on the weekend after defeating TCU 3-1 in Saturday's first match. OU's win over the Horned Frogs gave TCU their first loss of the season while handing Sooners coach Santiago Restrepo his 200th career win.
