BEAUMONT, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team (6-22, 0-14 Southland) could not sustain early momentum in the final two sets of a 3-0 loss (25-16, 25-20, 25-20) to the Lamar Cardinals (4-21, 4-9) on Thursday at McDonald Gym.
The Cardinals came out strong to start the match, winning the first five points before a kill by
Sara Hammoutene put New Orleans on the board. Lamar hit .433 in the opening set and held a comfortable margin throughout in taking down the first set.
In the second set, the Privateers got off to a stronger start, winning the first two points before Lamar called an early timeout. New Orleans pushed to an early 5-2 advantage. After Lamar tied the set at 5-5, the teams went back and forth until the Cardinals used a 6-0 run to break a 13-13 tie, which propelled them to a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Privateers were able to build a 9-6 lead early in the third set. However, the Cardinals tied the score after the next three rallies at nine each. New Orleans was able to stay within range for most of the remainder of the set, but were playing from behind after conceding three straight points that broke a 13-13 deadlock.
Cara Sander led the Privateers' attack on the night with eight kills.
Mikayla Sellers-Wiebe added six kills and
Katilyn Dillon had four kills while making her first start of the season.
Lauren Levy led the way in digs with 14, and now has 32 digs in the last three matches.
Cortney Moore paced the Cardinals' offense with 13 kills and was joined by Chelsea Grant who also registered double digit kills with 10 on the evening. Autumn Taylor followed closely behind with nine kills. The Cardinals had 11 blocks to just one for the Privateers.
New Orleans will play the final road game of the season against Sam Houston State on Saturday. First serve is for 2 p.m.
