HOUSTON – The University of New Orleans claimed its first tournament championship since 2009 by defeating Prairie View A&M 3-2 (15-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12) on Saturday morning in the Texas Southern Invitational.
UNO (2-2) was tied with Texas Southern (2-4) and PV (2-5) with 2-1 marks for the tournament. The Privateers claimed the tiebreaker by virtue of dropping just five sets over three matches, compared to six for the other two squads.
"It feels good to get our first tournament win under my leadership," said UNO head coach Kim Young-Buford. "It is a credit to our team as we fought some good teams this weekend and we came out with the tournament victory."
In Saturday's match, UNO was once again led by
Laila Hansen, who was named to the all-tournament team. Hansen produced her third consecutive double-double by tallying 16 kills and 16 digs. The double-double streak is the longest for UNO since Dobrilla Kovacevic's four-match streak in 2008.
Brionne Smith and
Marti Richmiller had 15 and 13 kills, respectively for the Privateer offense. All three UNO hitters benefited from
Ryan Hamilton, who matched her career-high with 40 assists, tying the mark she established in 2011 against Martin Methodist.
Unlike their previous matches on the weekend, UNO was forced to climb out of a deficit. The Privateers not only trailed after the first set, the squad trailed 2-1 after three sets.
Trailing 1-0, UNO's offense stepped up in the second set hitting .375 with 17 kills and just two errors in 40 attack attempts. The spurt enabled the Privateers to knot match, but they were unable to carry the momentum as the Panthers took the third set by holding UNO to a .095 hitting clip in the frame.
A theme for the next two sets was the Privateers' ability to battle.
A back-and-forth affair led to seven ties in the fourth set, which UNO eventually prevailed 25-22 sending the contest to a fifth and deciding frame.
With their backs against the wall, the Privateers jumped out to a 7-3 lead and never looked back. The advantage grew to five points at 14-9 before PV reached within two at 14-12. Hansen delivered the final kill to claim the match for UNO.
"We had won some key points and kept the momentum on our side," said Young-Buford of the rally. "Our hitters came through and everyone pretty much showed up when they needed to."
Next for the Privateers is a road contest on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Alcorn State.
NOTES
• Saturday's tournament victory was the first for UNO since 2009, when the team claimed both a home-hosted event and an invitational hosted by Memphis. Current assistant coach Nicky Valenti was a captain on that team, which won the 2009 Sun Belt Conference West Division championship.
• Sophomores
Laila Hansen and
Elena Villar were named to the all-tournament team. They were joined by Mississippi Valley State's Alexandria Garland and Prairie View A&M's Bruna Menezes. Robyn Shannon of Texas Southern was named the tournament's "Most Valuable Player" with PV's Shanice Faison earning a nod as the "Most Valuable Libero".
•
Laila Hansen became the first Privateer since Dobrilla Kovacevic to put together three consecutive double-doubles. A multiple-time All-Sun Belt selection Kovacevic, put together double-doubles in four consecutive matches in Sept. 2008.
• UNO will seek a three-match win streak on Wednesday against Alcorn State. The Privateers last won more than two in a row during Kim Young-Buford's first season when the squad finished the campaign on a five-match winning streak.
