DR. MARY JO WYNN/DOUBLETREE HOTEL INVITATIONAL PREVIEW
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The University of New Orleans saw its three-match winning streak come to an end with a pair of setbacks in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn/Doubletree Hotel Invitational on Friday.
UNO (3-4) dropped the opening contest 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-11) to the University of Connecticut in before falling to Northern Illinois 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-10) in the nightcap. The second contest was delayed 35 minutes due to weather as tornado sirens sounded just prior to the start of the match.
UConn (5-3) put forth a strong defensive effort against the Privateers in the opener, holding the squad to a .066 hitting clip for the match. The UNO offense was also on the receiving end of 10 blocks by the Big East squad, which also took advantage of a .420 hitting percentage.
Laila Hansen led UNO with 10 kills while setter
Ryan Hamilton was credited with 24 assists. The top defensive player was
Marti Richmiller with nine digs. UConn was paced by Mattison Quayle, who registered her second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs.
In the nightcap, NIU (5-5) won their second match of the day by dispatching the Privateers. The squad had previously defeated Nebraska-Omaha 3-0 in the tournament opener and once more put on an offensive display.
After hitting .326 in their first match of the day, NIU followed it up with a .411 outing against UNO.
The Huskies' blistering pace started with a .385 clip in an opening frame in which UNO failed to grab an advantage. The Privateers bounced back in the second stanza, grabbing the lead on several occasions including a late advantage of 16-15 before the Huskies scored nine of the set's final 13 points for the win.
NIU closed out the match without conceding the lead in the third set by hitting a match-high .469. Sarah Angelos and Mary Kurisch led the victors by contributing 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
For the second match in a row, Hansen led the UNO attack by contributing six kills.
Lauren Levy tallied eight digs to pace the Privateer defense while
Elena Villar finished right behind the aforementioned duo with five kills and seven digs.
UNO will continue tournament play on Saturday at 12 p.m. against the host institution Missouri State before concluding their weekend stay in Missouri with a 5 p.m. contest against Nebraska-Omaha. Live stat links for both matches are available on UNOPrivateers.com.
