BOX SCOREFORT MYERS, Fla. – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team (1-1) took the first two sets and had to rally late in a 3-2 win (29-27, 25-14, 18-25, 18-25, 15-13) over the Presbyterian Blue Hose (1-1) on Saturday morning at Alico Arena.
New Orleans gained an early advantage in the fifth set, but Presbyterian pushed right back with a 5-1 run to tie the set at 9-9. The Blue Hose crept to a 13-11 lead, but the Privateers would not be denied. Kills by
Keke Irby and
Rondolyn Bryant coupled with two errors on Presbyterian's side closed out the match.
After pushing to a 2-0 lead at halftime, Presbyterian had a rally in them to take the next two sets by identical score lines. The Blue Hose played mostly from ahead in the third set. In the fourth, the Privateers raced to an early 9-4 lead, but that was quickly erased in part by the service game. Presbyterian recorded three aces to push the match to the deciding fifth set.
The morning match against Presbyterian started with nothing between both sides. The first set featured the score being tied on nine different occasions and extra rallies. With the score tied at 27-27, Bryant came through with kills on consecutive rallies to polish off the opening set in the Privateers' favor.
The Privateers parlayed that momentum into a huge run to set the tone in the second set. New Orleans went on a 10-0 run to establish a 12-2 lead and kept command for the rest of the set. The Privateers hit .355 as a team in the second set with 14 kills and three errors in 31 attempts. At halftime, New Orleans also had eight service aces.
Blessing Dunn made a huge mark on the match, posting six kills in the first set. Dunn, making her first collegiate appearance and start, wound up with her first career double-double by notching a team best 15 kills along with 13 digs.
Also making contributions were Bryant who added 13 kills, matching a career high.
Kaitlyn Grice was in on seven of the team's 11 blocks (1 solo, 6 assist) and added eight kills.
Samantha Uline had seven kills and 11 digs.
Celeste Ramirez posted 35 assists, six digs, and assisted on three blocks.
Shaylene Reimer added 27 digs and contributed two of the Privateers' 12 aces in the service game.
Presbyterian had 11 service aces on the morning including three from Mikayla Register who also led the team in digs with 23. Two players ended up in double figures in kills: Rachel Elshoff had 14 kills while Ashton Stewart added 12.
The Privateers will close out their first weekend against Fordham at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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