Volleyball Takes On Northwestern Staten On Thursday

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans continues its current road swing on Thursday, Oct. 13, when the Privateers travel to Natchitoches, Louisiana for a Southland Conference match against Northwestern State. First serve for the contest is slated for 7 p.m.

This will be the fifth time the two sides have played each other since New Orleans joined the Southland Conference prior to the 2013-14 academic year, with Northwestern State winning each one. Last season, Northwestern bested New Orleans 3-1 at the Human Performance Center, putting NWST ahead in the all-time series 9-8.

"Northwestern State plays smart and doesn't make a lot of errors," head coach Millicent Van Norden explained. "We are going to have to play solid defense against this team tomorrow and play aggressive and mentally tough."

New Orleans (4-14, 1-4 SLC), is coming off of a 1-1 week where the Privateers won their first conference match of the season with a 3-2 win over Southeastern La. on the road after losing to McNeese State at home 3-1. UNO is averaging 11.2 kills on a .144 hitting percentage with 10.5 assists, 13.2 digs, 1.7 blocks and a Southland Conference-best 1.53 service aces.

Freshman outside hitter Jordan Yauch (Biological Science) paces the offense and is one of three Privateers to average over two kills per set with 2.70, followed by sophomore Blessing Dunn (Business Management) and freshman Brianna Vega (Biological Science) who averages 2.46 and 2.18. The three get their opportunities from freshman setter Sarah Thomas (Accounting and Finance) who averages 9.20 assists per set while senior middle blocker Keke Richards (Business Management) boasts a .284 hitting percentage, the sixth-highest in the league. UNO's potent service attack is led by sophomore outside hitter Cara Sanders (Marketing) who averages 0.32 aces per set.

Fresh off the second-highest digs total for UNO since the NCAA changed to a 25-point rally set format and averaging 6.33 digs per set last week, sophomore defensive specialist Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) anchors the defense with 3.92 digs, seventh-highest average in the league, followed by Dunn and Yauch with marks of 2.89 and 2.06. Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) leads the Privateers at the net with a .91 blocks per set average.

Northwestern State (10-12, 5-2 SLC) returns to their home court after a 1-1 road trip, dropping a 3-1 decision to Houston Baptist before escaping Lamar with a 3-2 victory. NWST ranks second in the conference with 16.35 digs per set while averaging 11.0 kills on a .127 clip with 10.3 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.3 service aces.

Alexis Warren paces the attack with 2.98 kills per set, eighth-best in the SLC, followed by Lauren Agan at 2.36. Natalie Jaeger quarterbacks the Lady Demon offense with 8.92 assists per set while leading the team from the service line with 0.31 service aces per set.
Channing Burleson anchors the defense with 5.02 digs, second-highest mark in the conference, followed by Warren with 3.00. Kourtney Seaton averages .85 blocks per set while Madeline Drake averages 0.78.

Following the match against Northwestern State, the Privateers conclude the road swing on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Central Arkansas with first serve slated for 12 p.m. UNO returns to the Human Performance Center on Tuesday, Oct. 18 when they host Nicholls with a 7 p.m. start time. Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.