HOUSTON - The University of New Orleans fell to 1-2 on the young season
after dropping matches to Indiana and Baylor on Saturday at the Flo
Hyman Invitational.
UNO started the day by falling to IU 3-1 (20-25, 29-27, 25-20, 25-20) before being swept by Baylor 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-21) in the nightcap.
IU (2-0) middle blocker Ashley Benson was too much for the Privateers to handle. Benson improved as the match continued, pounding down 20 kills in just 31 attacks for a .484 hitting percentage. Jordan Haverly had a double-double performance with 12 kills and 12 digs. Mary Chaudoin topped IU with 26 assists while Caitlin Cox led both sides with 19 digs.
Lindsey Loyd's 16 kill, 12 dig effort paced the Privateers, who also received 12 kills from
Maria Szivos. The most consistent attacks came from the middle blocker position where
Kaley Hubbard and
Anett Farkas totaled eight kills apiece while both topping .460 in the attack percentage category.
Setter
Cassidy Asebroek joined Loyd with a double-double, tallying 27 assists with 12 digs.
Hajnalka Molnar had a career-best 19 assists while
Nicky Valenti had a team-high 14 digs.
A day after starting slow against Houston, UNO scored 6 of 8 points to open the first set with IU's only two points coming via Privateer service errors. UNO maintained a high hitting percentage throughout the frame, starting with kills on 7 of 9 attacks on way to a 25-20 victory.
The Hoosiers started strong in the second set, opening up with a 5-1 advantage. The Privateers would take the lead at 13-12 and not take the lead again until 24-23. The two teams traded several opportunities to win the set before IU prevailed 29-27 to enter the break knotted at one.
The third set saw four ties early with the Hoosiers never falling out of the driver's seat. Down 20-15 and coming out of a timeout, the Privateers were able to cut into the lead, but it was too late with IU taking a 2-1 advantage on the back of a 25-20 victory.
A lead at 1-0 was the only one for UNO in the fourth set as the Hoosiers quickly scored eight of the next 11 points. The spurt put IU in cruise control for the remainder of the set as the Privateers only threatened once in a 25-20 victory for the Hoosiers.
Baylor (3-0) wrapped up an undefeated weekend behind the efforts of Katie Sanders and Ashlie Christenson, who had 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Sanders paced three players into double-figure digs with 13 with Katie Barnes tallying 35 assists.
For UNO, Loyd once more topped the attack with 15 kills. Asebroek was the only setter in double-digits with 15 and Valenti had a season-high 24 digs, which were only six shy of her career-best.
The Bears jumped out of the gates with a seven-point lead at 11-4 in the first set with the Privateers only able get within three before Sanders put down her 5th kill of the frame to close out a 25-20 victory.
UNO led most of the second set with a 4-0 run after a timeout at 18 all, giving the Privateers a 22-18 cushion. Baylor would not let up, scoring 8 of 10 points to take the second set 26-24 on their second set point.
The third set saw 16 ties before the Bears opened an 18-18 game to a 22-19 advantage. While UNO pulled within two down the stretch, it was as close as Baylor would allow in finishing off their foes.
The Privateers will return home next weekend to host Texas Tech, Bowling Green and Southeastern Louisiana in the Radisson New Orleans Airport Privateer Invitational. Matches begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4 with the whole tournament scheduled to be broadcast on UNO Vision.
