BOX SCORE (PDF)
LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – The University of New Orleans volleyball team gave McNeese State three competitive sets on Thursday evening, but the host Cowgirls benefited from late spurts in a 3-0 loss for the Privateers (25-21, 26-24, 25-21) on the road.
In the match, freshman setter
Sarah Thomas (Accounting & Finance) boasted 34 assists with a career-high 17 digs for her first career double-double. On the season, Thomas has a 9.62 assist per set average, on pace to set the program record for the highest since the NCAA changed to a 25 point rally format prior to the 2008 season.
"We started too slow and had to play from behind the rest of the set," head coach
Millicent Van Norden said. "We fought back in each set, but out of system defense by us allowed McNeese to score crucial points late. Grice was dominant throughout the entire match and we should have utilized her more early on."
The middle blockers led New Orleans (4-20, 1-10 SLC) on offense, combining for 24 of UNO's 36 kills. Sophomore
Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) paced the team with 11 kills on a .348 clip with a team-best three blocks, followed by senior
Keke Richards (Business Management) who posted six kills without an error for a .429 hitting percentage with a pair of blocks.
On defense, sophomore defensive specialist
Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) anchored the royal blue and silver with 23 digs, leading three Privateers who finished with double-digit digs. Sophomore outside hitter
Blessing Dunn (Business Management) ended the match with 11 digs with four kills.
Despite falling behind early 5-1 against McNeese State (9-17, 5-6 SLC), the Privateers after a 3-0 run with kills from Grice and Dunn made it 12-all. McNeese responded with a 3-0 run of their own to recreate the separation, but the Privateers kept it within two until a late pair of points by the hosts put the Cowgirls up 24-21.
In similar fashion to the opening frame, McNeese jumped ahead to an early lead, this time a 6-1 advantage. UNO had its biggest run of the match midway through the stanza, firing off an 8-1 to cut the deficit to two at 16-14. The Privateers managed to knot the score at 19-all with a 4-0 run featuring a pair of kills from junior middle blocker
Rondolyn Bryant (Exercise Physiology), but an equal response from McNeese made it 23-19. New Orleans went on another 4-0 spree to tie the score at 23-23 and scored another point to make it 24-24 before back-to-back points from McNeese ended the set.
UNO took its first lead of the contest in the final set, posting back-to-back kills from Grice and Dunn out of the gate to take the 2-0 lead. McNeese took the lead off a 5-0 run to make it 10-8, extending the lead to five at 17-12. The Privateers cut the separation to one off a 5-0 run to make it 17-16, reclaiming the lead off a 3-0 run to make it 19-18 before a 5-0 spurt from the host put them up 23-19.
UNO returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 29, when New Orleans concludes the regular season series against Nicholls at 6:30 p.m. in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The Privateers return to the Human Performance Center on Tuesday, Nov. 1, when Northwestern State comes to town with first serve slated for 7 p.m. Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.
 --www.UNOPrivateers.com--
