BOX SCOREFORT MYERS, Fla. – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team (2-1) shook off an error prone start of the match to close out a 3-1 win (27-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18) over the Fordham Rams (0-3) on Friday afternoon at the Alico Arena.
New Orleans had to rally from an early deficit to take the fourth set and finish the match. Fordham opened up with a 6-1 lead, but the Privateers quickly tied the score at 6-6 after a few Rams errors. The Privateers continued their run, scoring eight consecutive points to take a three-point lead.
From there, New Orleans would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set. The final point was recorded when
Shaylene Reimer notched her third ace for the Privateers who held a distinct advantage in the service game as part of their victory. New Orleans had 11 service aces to just three for Fordham.
"We showed great potential for who we can become as a team. We had some highs and lows this weekend and were able to battle back and stay on the positive side in the overall results," said Head Coach
Millicent Van Norden about the team's opening weekend.
"We can't be satisfied with being better than before. We have to strive to become the exception. We have a lot of work to do before we compete again next week. I'm looking forward to it."
The Privateers overcame eight attack errors and five service errors to take the opening set in extra rallies. After New Orleans tied the set at 24-24, the teams exchanged points to keep the score level. Then back-to-back tandem blocks came: the first by
Rondolyn Bryant and
Keke Irby followed by the set clincher from Irby and
Cara Sander.
After the changeover, the second set was a back-and-forth affair for a while.
Blessing Dunn registered an ace to cut Fordham's lead at the time to 16-15. The Rams responded by scoring the next five points and a subsequent late rally attempt by the Privateers fell short.
The third set was played evenly until late on when the Privateers broke a 17-17 tie by scoring on six of the next eight rallies. Four different players registered a kill in that stretch which pushed the Privateers to a 2-1 lead in the match.
Bryant led the way with 12 kills and was very efficient, recording an attack percentage of .500. Bryant also led the way in total blocks with five. Sander finished with nine kills while
Takierra Boughton added seven. Dunn and
Lane Hindenburg each added six kills. Reimer and
Lauren Levy landed in double figures in digs with 15 and 11 each.
Sara Hammoutene added 22 assists and eight digs while
Celeste Ramirez contributed 12 assists and five digs.
The Rams were led by Natalie Martinez who posted 13 kills and hit .344. Breanna Jones and Brianna O'Neill each added nine kills to Fordham's attack. Three players wound up with double figures in digs including O'Neill and Clarissa Cartledge who recorded 15 each.
New Orleans now returns home to host the first of two weekend invitationals. The Privateers' first match of the weekend will be on Friday, Sept. 4 against Providence. First serve is for 6 p.m. and the match will be broadcast online at unoprivateers.com/watch.
To keep up with the latest New Orleans volleyball news, follow the team on Twitter
@UNOPrivateers and
@Privateers_VB or by liking New Orleans Privateers on
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