Privateers Grab Halloween Sweep Over Nicholls

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers (15-13, 4-7 Southland) prevailed in two tight sets as part of a 3-0 win (26-24, 25-23, 25-18) over the Nicholls Colonels (6-18, 1-11) on Saturday at the Human Performance Center. The win was also a milestone for Coach Millicent Van Norden who earned her 200^th career victory.
 
The Privateers and Colonels played two razor thin sets to start the match. New Orleans had a minor spurt to take a 10-7 lead, but the Colonels kept the pressure on and tied the set at 21-21. The Privateers then rattled off three straight points, but Nicholls came back with a 3-0 spurt of their own to push extra rallies. That's when Kaitlyn Grice punctuated the opening set for New Orleans with a kill and a block assist.
 
The second set saw more of the same, but Nicholls held the early advantage. The Colonels led 10-8, but after having service broken, Grice's serve compromised the Colonels for a spell that keyed a Privateers spurt to a 12-10 lead. Even though the set remained close, the Privateers never relinquished the lead after that point.
 
New Orleans was able to race out to a 5-2 lead in the third set, but the Colonels had a quick response of four straight to take a 6-5 advantage. The set went back and forth until New Orleans delivered a run of five consecutive points to push the Privateers lead to six. From there, the Privateers were able to finish off the match and cap off a 3-0 week.
 
Blessing Dunn led the team with 11 kills, running her streak to eight straight matches with double digit kills and also had nine digs. Grice wound up with nine kills, three digs, and three blocks. Cara Sander and Keke Irby each had eight kills. Celeste Ramirez had 37 assists and eight digs. The Privateers had 13 more digs than Nicholls and hit .370 in the third set. New Orleans also out-hit Nicholls .269 to .208 for the match.
 
Nicholls was led by Kaci Eaton who had 11 kills. Anna Niederhauser had nine kills, nine digs, three aces, and three total blocks (one solo, two assist). Emily Weimer added seven kills and the Colonels had seven aces as a team. Stephanie Tobison added a team-high 11 digs and also served up two aces.
 
New Orleans will next head to Southeastern on Tuesday, Nov. 3. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
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