Privateers Top Sam Houston State, Pull to .500 in Conference

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers (18-12, 7-7 Southland) never trailed in the first two sets en route to their sixth straight win, a 3-0 triumph (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) over the Sam Houston State Bearkats (12-16, 6-8) on Saturday at the Human Performance Center.
 
Sam Houston State raced out to a 6-3 lead and held a 12-8 advantage at one point before the Privateers pulled off a seven-point rotation behind the service of Kaitlyn Grice and a few Bearkats attack errors. Sam Houston State had 10 errors in the third set, one more than the first two combined.
 
The Privateers had match point at 24-22, but the Bearkats won a point on a service error to extend the set one rally further. New Orleans finished the deal on the victory though when Keke Irby notched her 13^th kill, which led the team for the day.
 
The Privateers hit .262 and had three blocks in the opening set to help set the tone. Irby and Blessing Dunn helped start up the Privateers offense, each recording five kills in the opening set. The Privateers steadily built up a 12-8 lead and were able to hold the Bearkats' offense in check, allowing just a .171 opponent's attack percentage.
 
New Orleans kept the Bearkats off balance with the service game in the second set, led by Celeste Ramirez who had all three Privateers aces for the set. New Orleans led by as many as seven points at 19-12 and did not let Sam Houston State get closer than four points for the remainder of the set. New Orleans improved their attack percentage for the second set, hitting .316 (17 kills, five errors, 38 attempts).
 
Irby went for an attack percentage of .500 with 13 kills on 20 attempts and also added two block assists. Dunn and Grice each added nine kills to the offensive effort. Rondolyn Bryant had seven kills and Cara Sander added five. Ramirez had 38 assists to go along with her three aces. Shaylene Reimer led the way in digs with 14. Eight of those came in the second set.
 
The Bearkats were led by Jordyn Vaughn who had 13 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Taylor Cunningham added 12 kills, but the rest of the roster combined for 10 kills. Michelle Griffith had 24 assists and 10 digs. Claire Kilpatrick led the team with 11 digs.
 
New Orleans will play their final road match of the regular season against McNeese State on Tuesday, Nov. 10. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
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