NEW ORLEANS - The University of New Orleans opened Sun Belt Conference play while extending their win streak to four matches with a 3-1 (25-20, 27-29, 25-16, 25-20) victory over Arkansas State at the Human Performance Center on Thursday night.
The win was
Jozsef Forman's first at home in three attempts against ASU (10-5, 0-1 SBC) since taking over the helm of the UNO (8-5, 1-0 SBC) program.
Vesna Jelic and
Maria Szivos topped the Privateers with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.
Hajnalka Molnar had 25 assists with
Cassidy Asebroek distributing 19 of her own.
The defense stepped up once more for UNO with
Nicky Valenti's match-high 24 digs leading three other Privateers into double-figures in the category. Molnar, Szivos and Jelic all rounded out double-doubles by reaching 12, 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
Taylor Coughlin and Cayla Fielder notched 11 kills apiece for the Red Wolves. ASU's Laura Bennett tallied a match-high 34 assists with SBC dig leader Heather Bowman leading her squad with 18.
The scoring was in the Privateers' favor to start the match. UNO scored 4 of 5 points before pushing their advantage to eight points at 16-8.
UNO's lead reached nine at 20-11 before the Red Wolves reeled off five straight and 7 of 9 to close the gap to four, 22-18. The Privateers would not lose sight of the finish line, scoring their final point of the set on an ASU service error.
It would take 14 ties in the second set before either team could gain a lead of more than two points. UNO broke loose from a 16-16 tie with Szivos and
Heather Ford connecting on consecutive kills, part of a 4-0 to take a 19-16 lead.
The Red Wolves responded with four straight points to grab a 20-19 edge. The teams would continue fighting back and forth, totaling 22 ties and 11 lead changes before ASU finally took the set in 'extra points' by a 29-27 score.
After an early 4-4 tie, the Privateers ran off with 7 of 9 points to take a commanding 11-6 lead. Blocks played a large part in the string of UNO points with
Kaley Hubbard having a hand in consecutive stops.
A .516 hitting clip by the host squad was too much for ASU to recover from as the Red Wolves were only able to get within six as the Privateers took the set 25-16.
After a tie at 12 in the fourth set, Szivos went on serve as UNO went on a 8-1 run that put the Privateers in control of the frame on way to a 25-20 win.
UNO will continue their four-match homestand with a Saturday afternoon match at 4 p.m. against UALR.
