NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team fought hard, but they came up short against Southland and in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 Tuesday night at the Human Performance Center.
Both teams played a spirited match that went back and forth, but Southeastern (7-14, 1-8 SLC) managed a 6-0 run towards the end of the fourth set to help finish out the match.
The Lions and Privateers traded blows in the first set, and neither team was able to pull away as Southeastern's largest lead was just five at 19-14 and 20-15. The set featured nine ties and five lead changes. The Lions ended the late UNO rally and won the set 25-21.
UNO (3-19, 0-9 SLC) started slow in the second set and got behind 10-5 early. The Privateers answered back to cut the lead to four at 13-9. With the Lions leading 14-10, UNO turned the set completely around and went on a 12-0 run to make it 22-14. Southeastern pulled within four, but they could get no closer as UNO leveled the match after a 25-20 score in set number 2.
The third set featured much of the same as the previous two sets as the set was knotted at 13-13, but Southeastern answered UNO's dominance in the second set with a 10-0 run to make the score 22-13. The Privateers cut the lead to 22-15, but the Lions ended the rally and won the set 25-15.
The fourth set was not short on excitement as UNO got out to a 3-0 lead early. The Lions stayed close and managed to tie it 11-11. Southeastern took the lead and did not give it up as they got ahead by six 20-14. The Privateers made it exciting as they pulled within one down 21-20, but the Lions took the next four points to close out the match.
Celeste Ramirez dominated the assists department for the Privateers as she tallied 33 for the match and adding nine digs.
Marti Richmiller was also very active as she pounded out 11 kills and 12 digs.
Lauren Levy continued her consistency with 15 digs of her own.
Ariane Labrzycki had a solid night on serve as she notched four aces.
The Lions had an equally strong night offensively as Parrie Hartley and Landry Bullock combined for 26 kills. Brooke Balser led the Southeastern defense with 13 digs. Morgan Todd and Cherish Krohn also put up double figures in digs for the Lions.
The Privateers head out to Texas for a two-game road trip in the SLC as they take on Sam Houston State this Thursday night and Lamar on Saturday. UNO returns home October 24 to host Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. in the HPC.
