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VALDOSTA, Ga. – The University of New Orleans volleyball team will spend the weekend in Georgia as they face Gulf South Conference foes Valdosta State on Friday at 6 p.m. CT and West Georgia on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.
UNO (2-11, 0-5 GSC) comes into the weekend looking to end a seven-match losing streak that began with a 3-1 setback at Centenary on Sept. 17.
In the most recent loss – a Wednesday defeat at the hands of Xavier – the Privateers may have seen the re-emergence of freshman
Jasmyne Walker. Walker totaled a team-high seven kills in the match, her most since tallying nine at Centenary.
A native of Austin, Texas, Walker has shown her ability to play an active role in the offense.
Earlier this season, the middle blocker reeled off a stretch of five matches in which she posted at least nine kills on four occasions. On the year, Walker is second on the UNO roster with 2.10 kills a set and leads the squad with a .231 attacking percentage.
In addition to Walker's efforts on Tuesday, the Privateers produced on the serve and the block against XULA – two areas that the squad needs to capitalize on in league play.
Tory Hearn tallied four of UNO's season-high eight service aces to spark rallies in the opening two sets. On the block, the Privateers stuffed five Gold Nugget attack attempts, the team's most since their Sept. 14 win at Southern-New Orleans.
These building blocks will lay a foundation in which UNO can succeed as they head into a weekend in which both opponents have struggled as of late.
After opening league play with two straight wins, VSU (10-7, 2-3 GSC) lost their next three matches before halting the skid with a 3-0 out of conference victory at Albany State on Tuesday.
Katie Onushko tallies 3.22 kills per set to lead the Blazers, who are hitting .191 on the season with 12.55 kills per frame as a unit. Krista Bradford and Ashley Lala lead the way in digs with 3.09 and 3.08 digs a set, respectively.
UWG (5-14, 0-5 GSC) is looking to snap a skid of their own, off to an 0-5 start in league play and without a victory since stepping out of conference to beat Clark-Atlanta on Sept. 27. The Wolves are led by Emily Reul's 2.83 kills per set with Mary Krueger pacing the squad with a .234 hitting percentage.
Following this weekend's trip, UNO will play their next four at home beginning on Oct. 18 against West Florida at the Human Performance Center. Matches against North Alabama (Oct. 21), Christian Brothers (Oct. 22) and XULA (Oct. 25) round out the longest home slate of the season.
