NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team will wrap up the 2013 season with a pair of Southland Conference road trips starting with Central Arkansas on Thursday and ending with Oral Roberts on Saturday.
The Privateers (3-26, 0-16 SLC) will close out their first season in the SLC against two of the top four teams in the conference. UCA has clinched their fourth SLC title in five years. They are 24-3 and a perfect 16-0 in SLC play. ORU is fourth in the SLC standings with a 20-6 record and 12-4 mark in the conference.
For the Privateers,
Marti Richmiller has been the offensive leader throughout the season as she has 215 kills on the year. Richmiller could also hit 200 digs for the year if she records seven more.
Kelsea Hundtoft,
Alyssa Podwell, and
Taylor Berry are also in triple digits with kills for UNO.
Lauren Levy continues to be the team's defensive leader with 356 kills. She is also 12
th in the SLC with a 3.63 digs per set average.
Celeste Ramirez leads UNO in assists with 533. Her 5.79 assist per set average is 11
th in the SLC.
UCA, a strong offensive team, leads the conference in three statistical categories – hitting percentage (.260), assists per set average (13.37), and kills per set average (14.12). Sophomore Heather Schnars leads the Sugar Bears' offense with 303 kills. Her kills per set average of 3.44 is seventh in the Southland. Schnars also leads the conference with 40 aces. Defensively for UCA, junior Shelbee Berringer is fourth in the conference with a 4.82 digs per set percentage and has 453 total.
ORU also has a solid offense as they are second in the SLC in hitting percentage (.252) and kills per set average with 13.74. The Golden Eagles are also second in the SLC in blocks per set average at 2.10 with 211 as a team. Junior Sara Pope is second in the conference with a 3.71 kills per set average. Freshman McKenna Qualls is tied for ninth in the SLC with UNO's
Ariane Labrzycki with 0.31 aces per set and 25 total. ORU also has had good defense as senior Bruna Silva is second in the conference with a 5.22 digs per set average (485 overall).
The match with Central Arkansas is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday night in Conway, Ark., while first serve against Oral Roberts is set for 12:30 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.
