Privateers Defeated by Tulane in Home Opener

Note: We apologize for the lack of live stats at tonight's match. A wireless internet outage on campus this afternoon contributed to this issue.

NEW ORLEANS - Playing in front of a home crowd for the first time this season, New Orleans was defeated 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-15) by Tulane on Wednesday night at the Human Performance Center.

Senior Marti Richmiller had a team-high seven kills for UNO, which dropped to 0-8 on the season.  Cara Sander added five kills for the Privateers along with three service aces. 

Celeste Ramirez posted 22 assists for head coach Kim Young-Buford's team while Sander's six digs ranking tops amongst the home squad. Alyssa Podwell paced both teams, having a hand on three blocks.

The TU (8-0)  duo of Sarah Strasner and Tea Juric led the way for the visiting squad, producing 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Mel Mandelbaum contributed heavily to the Green Wave offense, distributing 31 assists for a team that hit .311 for the match.

TU got off to a strong start in the opening set, scoring the first seven points. The Privateers pulled within two at 8-6 before the Green Wave responded with a 7-0 run on the serve of Makenzie Frieden to seize the momentum that the squad needed to close out the first set.

In the second frame, TU posted a .448 hitting percentage with 16 kills in 29 attack attempts to erase several early Privateer advantages to head into the break with a 2-0 lead.  

UNO showed some fight early in the third stanza with consecutive service aces from Sander putting the Privateers in the driver's seat briefly with a 7-5 edge. As they had done in the first set, TU scored the next seven points en route to closing out the victory.

UNO will continue its season on Friday in the Alabama State/ISTAP Collegiate Cup. The tournament starts on Friday with a match at 1 p.m. against host ASU.

NOTES
- Twin sisters Brooklyn Frank of UNO and Ally Frank of Tulane each saw time in the match. The pair hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

- Wednesday's crowd at the Human Performance Center of over 500 was the largest for a UNO home contest since at least prior to Hurricane Katrina, according to available records.