Privateers Volleyball Back Home for Two Opponents

The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team (6-5) will have their final matches before the beginning of conference play this weekend when they host Tennessee State and Grambling in a weekend invitational at the Human Performance Center. The Privateers will face Tennessee State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Grambling at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
 
New Orleans suffered a 3-0 loss to Southern Miss on Tuesday in their last outing, but narrowed the score line in each set. The Privateers allowed the Golden Eagles to hit .419 and .375 in the first two sets, but brought that number down to .061 in the third set. New Orleans held a narrow advantage in the kill department (40-39), but was victimized by 12 blocks from Southern Miss' front line.
 
Samantha Uline has seen her attempts go up along with her kill totals. In the last three matches, Uline has 74 attempts and 27 kills. That span included a season-high 12 kills on 34 attempts against The Citadel last Saturday.
 
Blessing Dunn entered Tuesday's match against Southern Miss and made an immediate offensive impact, racking up seven kills in the second set. For the match, Dunn had 11 kills, marking her third match of double digit kills this season. Dunn also had her highest hitting percentage in a match against the Golden Eagles, striking at a .364 clip.
 
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
 
TENNESSEE STATE (3-5)
The Tigers will be coming in off of two mid-week matches. Before traveling to New Orleans, the Tigers will make a stop in Baton Rouge to face Southern on Thursday night. On Tuesday, Tennessee State topped Alabama A&M 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-14).
 
Kathy Bullock has guided the Tennessee State program since 2004 and has 137 wins with the program. Bullock led Tennessee State to their first Ohio Valley Championship and NCAA Tournament bid in 2007. She was also named the OVC Coach of the Year in 2005.
 
Tennessee State has been a notoriously fast starting team. The Tigers have taken the first set in six of their eight matches this season.
 
GRAMBLING (2-7)
Grambling has posted wins over Tougaloo and Mississippi Valley State this season. All seven of their losses have come in three sets. Coming into the weekend, the Tigers rank third in the SWAC in blocks at 1.66 per set.
 
Maya Lucas leads the team in hitting percentage at .215 and kills with 44. Lucas is also sixth in the conference in attack percentage. The Tigers are coached by Demetria Keys-Johnson. This weekend will mark their second all-time meeting with the Privateers.
 
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