MONROE, La. - The University of New Orleans volleyball team clinched a share of the Sun Belt Conference West Division championship following a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-7, 25-10) at Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night.
Maria Szivos had 12 kills, one of three Privateers to reach double figures, and UNO (19-11, 12-6 Sun Belt) hit a season-high .434 to help the Privateers claim their first-ever SBC division title.
Senior Lindsey Loyd had 11 kills on just 20 total attacks, and Edina Dobi added 11 kills and nine digs. Nicky Valenti had a match-high 15 digs.
It was UNO's second win this week against ULM (3-29, 0-17), which was led by Mahogany Dilonga's six kills.
Saturday's contest was never in doubt. The Privateers lost the first point of the match and never trailed again after running off seven straight. ULM managed just six kills in the final two sets, and the Privateers held the Warhawks to a -.267 percentage in the second set.
The Privateers closed the regular season with four straight wins and have won 11 consecutive sets.
UNO will share the West crown with Arkansas State and will play the Red Wolves in the quarterfinals of next week's Sun Belt Tournament.
UNO will be the No. 4 seed.
The tournament will take place Thursday through Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky. Full bracket information will be released on Sunday and will be posted on UNOPrivateers.com.
