Box Score LAKE CHARLES - The strong hitting continued for the University of New Orleans, but it was not enough in the team's second loss of the season against McNeese State, falling 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) on Tuesday night.
Edina Dobi led UNO (3-7) with 12 kills and no attack errors in 18 attempts. Kaitlin Hatcher was second on the team with eight kills with the pair of Kaitlyn Crippin and Ashley Henderson adding six kills apiece.
Setter Cassidy Asebroek topped 30 assists for the second match in a row with 33 on the night. Asebroek's efforts helped direct the UNO offense to a .227 hitting percentage on the night. Hatcher topped the Privateers in digs with 12 followed by Asebroek's seven.
McNeese (5-9) improved to 4-0 at home on the season behind Taylor Bustamento's 11 kills. Bustamento led a Cowgirl attack that hit .343 on the match with Nicole Bowden and Priscilla Massengage pounding down nine and eight kills, respectively.
Becky Bekelja was the primary setter for McNeese, totaling 38 assists with backup libero Katie Kennedy pacing the back row with 19 digs.
Despite UNO hitting .250 in the opening set behind four kills from Asebroek in four attacks, it was McNeese who brought the early offense with a .452 clip. The Cowgirls never trailed in the frame, turning a tie at two into a 7-2 advantage on way to a 25-19 victory.
McNeese started the second set with three straight points and 5 of 7 to gain control of the frame. The Cowgirls' lead grew to 17-8 before Dobi pounded down three kills during a 5-0 run on Asebroek's serve to get within four.
The hosts would kick their lead back up to seven at 22-15 before UNO rallied back in the set, trailing 22-21. McNeese scored the final three points of the set to win 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead into the break.
In the third set, the teams battled through 14 ties until the Cowgirls broke through at 21-all to win two straight points and force UNO head coach Kim Young to call a timeout. McNeese scored the final two points of the match after the timeout for a 25-21 match-clinching set victory.
The Privateers will take to the court this weekend at the Birmingham Southern Fall Classic. UNO will challenge Dillard and Faulkner on Friday before facing Loyola and Wallace State on Saturday.
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