Volleyball Hosts Reigning Southland Conference Champions On Thursday

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans volleyball team continues its three-match homestand on Thursday, Oct. 20, when the Privateers host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the reigning Southland Conference champions. First serve for the match is scheduled for 7 p.m.at the Human Performance Center.

The matchup marks the third opponent UNO has played this season that competed in the 2015 NCAA National Championship, as the Privateers have played against Jackson State and Colorado State earlier this season.

"We are going to need to step up our floor defense and blocking against a strong offensive team," head coach Millicent Van Norden explained. "They are equally efficient on defense, leading the conference in digs and blocks, so we need to come prepared."

New Orleans (4-17, 1-7 SLC) lost the first match of the homestand despite setting season-highs in team kills (69), assists (65) and service aces (14) while posting the second-best total in digs (83) and blocks (10) this season. The Privateers average 11.49 kills on a .154 hitting percentage with 13.53 digs, 10.82 assists, 1.64 blocks and a Southland Conference-best 1.58 service aces.

Individually, freshman setter Sarah Thomas (Accounting & Finance) orchestrates the attack with 9.51 assists per set, third-highest average in the conference, with freshman outside hitter Jordan Yauch (Biological Science) averaging a team-best 2.73 kills per set, followed by sophomore outside hitter Blessing Dunn (Business Management) with 2.39 and freshman outside hitter Brianna Vega (Biological Science) with 2.13. UNO's potent service game is led by junior outside hitter Cara Sander (Exercise Science & Physiology) with a 0.40 average, second in the SLC, while senior middle blocker Keke Richards (Business Management) ranks fifth in hitting percentage with a .295 clip.

On defense, sophomore defensive specialist Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) anchors the Privateers with 3.94 digs per set, seventh-best in the Southland Conference, followed by Dunn with a 2.93 mark. Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) leads the team at the net with 0.87 blocks per set.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13-7, 8-0 SLC) continued its winning-streak in Southland Conference play on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Lamar, extending the streak to 26-consecutive conference victories. The Islanders lead the league in kills (13.17), hitting percentage (.211), blocks (2.38) and digs (18.03) while ranking second in assists (12.19).

Brittany Gilpin leads the Corpus-Christi attack with 3.27 kills, fifth-highest average in the league, while Kristyn Nicholson leads the conference with 0.45 service aces per set and averages the sixth-most assists with 8.96 per set. On defense, Kate Klepetka ranks second in the SLC with 5.11 digs and Madison Fitzsimmons boasts 1.15 blocks per set, third-best in the conference.

The Privateers conclude the homestand on Saturday, Oct. 22, when UNO hosts Incarnate Word with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.