BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of New Orleans volleyball
team will compete in the Birmingham Southern Fall Classic this weekend, playing
a pair of matches on Friday and Saturday.
UNO (3-7) will open play on Friday against Faulkner at 5
p.m. before taking on cross-town rival Dillard at 7:30 p.m. Matches continue on
Saturday with the second contest of the year against Loyola at 4 p.m. followed
by an exhibition match against Wallace State at 6:30 p.m.
The Privateers fell to McNeese State 3-0 on Tuesday night
and enter a stretch in which 8 of 9 remaining matches come against non-NCAA
Division I opponents. This season, head coach Kim Young's squad is a perfect
2-0 against non-Division I foes.
Offensively, UNO is in strong form, topping a .200 hitting
clip in the team's last four matches including a season-high .291 in a win
against ULM on Sept. 11. A productive offense starts with a consistent setter,
a role handled by Cassidy Asebroek, who averages 8.24 assists a set.
One of the top setters statistically in school history,
Asebroek has taken advantage of the continued development of Kaitlin Hatcher,
Kaitlyn Crippin, Ashley Henderson and Kayla McGee.
Hatcher - the lone returnee in the group - transitioned to
outside hitter and is second on the team to Edina Dobi with 2.24 kills a set.
Crippin has put down at least six kills per match during the current hitting
streak by the Privateers while McGee has posted at least five. Henderson rounds
out the group after matching her career-high in kills with six on Tuesday
night.
Faulkner (8-7) had a two-match winning streak snapped on
Tuesday against Mobile. Outside hitter Neysa Hernandez leads the team with 3.1
kills and enters the weekend with a string of seven straight matches with at
least 12 kills.
Dillard is a perfect 5-0 on the season after starting the
year with a 3-0 home win against Division I Alcorn State. Mesquite, Texas
native Krista Hall tops the team's offensive efforts with two kills a set
including nine in wins against Talladega College and Tennessee Temple.
Since dropping a 3-1 encounter to the Privateers last
Saturday, Loyola (8-6) has since won a five-set affair over Belhaven on
Tuesday. Gina Gill tallied 17 kills in the loss to UNO and followed up with 23
against Belhaven, boosting her kill total to four a frame.
Wallace State Community College is also undefeated, carrying
a 21-0 mark into the match, which is an exhibition since the NCAA does not
count contests against two-year schools. Of the 21 victories, only one - a 3-1
win over Snead State - did not come in straight sets.
A full recap of the weekend's matches will be available at
the conclusion of each day on UNOPrivateers.com.
