NEW ORLEANS - The Universityof New Orleans and Loyola volleyball teams
will play the 'rubber match' of a three contest series at The Den on
Saturday at 1 p.m.
The third meeting between the teams on year, UNO (7-9) won the first match 3-1 at the Human Performance Center on Sept. 18 before falling a week later at the Birmingham Southern Classic by a 3-2 score to Loyola (22-12). The Privateers will need to win their remaining three matches to finish over .500 on the season.
UNO enters Saturday's contest on a two-match winning streak, having dispatched Division III Rust and NAIA Dillard 3-0 on Oct. 23 at the Lakefront Arena Auxiliary Gym.
In order to defeat the Wolfpack, the Privateers will need to find an offensive rhythm. In their victory against Loyola, the Privateers hit .209 while dropping to a .070 mark in the loss.
Senior Edina Dobi has topped the 20-kill match in each of the matches against the Wolfpack and has been a reliable offensive weapon for head coach Kim Young with her team-leading 3.57 kills a set on the year.
Dobi will look to help from sophomores Kaitlin Hatcher and Kaitlyn Crippin. Hatcher is averaging 2.28 kills a frame, to rank second on the team while Crippin has totaled 16 kills to just three attack errors in her last two matches, including a career-high of 11 in the win over Dillard.
Freshman Ashley Henderson could also factor into the attack, coming off a match in which she pounded down a season-high seven kills with no errors. The offense as always will flow through senior setter Cassidy Asebroek, who had matching 46 assist performances in the matches against Loyola.
Loyola split a pair of matches this week, falling 3-0 at conference rival Spring Hill on Tuesday, before bouncing back with a 3-0 victory over Dillard on Thursday.
Gina Gill is the top offensive threat for head coach Tommy Harold's squad. Gill averages 4.5 kills per set on the season and has totaled 44 kills over the nine sets contested against the Privateers this year.
Tickets for Saturday's match are free for UNO students who present an ID. The cost is $6 per adult ticket and $3 for youth or senior citizens.
UNOPrivateers.com is the official web site of the
University of New Orleans Privateers. The Privateers can also be
followed on their official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/UNOPrivateers or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/UNOPrivateers.
