Box Score NEW ORLEANS - The University of New Orleans avoided having their first
five match losing skid in five years by defeating Florida Atlantic 3-2
(25-13, 23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-9) on Saturday evening at the Human
Performance Center.
UNO (15-10, 8-5 Sun Belt) moved within a half-match of SBC West Division-leading Denver with the victory and improved to 5-0 when reserve
Meagan Whiten leads off the match with the national anthem.
The Privateers received matching 17 kill efforts from
Lindsey Loyd and
Maria Szivos with
Vesna Jelic right behind with 15 kills. Jelic rounded out a double-double with 12 digs.
At the setter position,
Hajnalka Molnar had 33 assists prior to passing the torch to
Cassidy Asebroek, who had 20 over two sets.
Nicky Valenti was the top libero on the floor with 27 digs.
Christina Wallinger was the top attacker for FAU (6-17, 4-10 SBC) with her 14 kills. Joanne Marras Tate paced the Owls with 35 assists and Cintia Nightingale had 21 digs.
UNO took advantage of four Owl errors at the beginning of the first set to take an 8-3 lead. Szivos would total five kills in the frame as the Privateers coasted to a 25-13 first set win, in large part due to the team's .481 hitting percentage.
FAU gained their first lead of match on the second set's opening point. UNO responded with three straight points and \7 of 8 scores to take away the lead from the Owls.
The Privateers remained ahead for most of the set until the Owls went ahead 17-16 for their second lead of the match. The two teams traded leads as the set continued with a block by FAU allowing the Owls to take the second set 25-23.
UNO came out out of the break flat, dropping 6 of 8 points to FAU at the beginning of the third set. The Privateers would reel the Owls in to move ahead 10-9 on a block by Szivos and
Anett Farkas.
The Owls would be the ones to have the last laugh in the frame, going on a 5-0 run to jump out ahead 14-11. The lead coupled with a .024 hitting percentage by UNO would not allow them an opportunity to get back in the set, falling 25-23.
Staring down a fifth straight loss, Privateer head coach
Jozsef Forman changed the lineup in the fourth set. The changes worked as UNO took an early 4-1 lead to jump into the driver's seat.
The lead would continue to grow to seven points at 15-8. The Privateers pushed the edge to eight several times and hit .394 prior to closing the set with a 25-17 victory.
UNO scored four straight points to open the decisive fifth set prompting FAU head coach Jody Brown to call a timeout. The Owls responded with two points out of the break in the action and rallied to within one at 8-7 leading Forman to call a timeout of his own.
As it did for FAU, the timeout worked to the Privateers' favor with the home squad running off three straight points. The lead was significant enough to hold on to as UNO took the fifth set 15-9.
UNO will take to the road this next week for matches at DU on Nov. 5 and North Texas on Nov. 7.
