BOX SCORE (PDF)
NEW ORLEANS – Trailing 2-0 overall against McNeese State, the University of New Orleans volleyball team tried to mount a comeback, dominating the third set before falling just short in the fourth set of a 3-1 setback (25-21, 25-19, 15-25, 25-12) on Tuesday in the Human Performance Center.
In the match, sophomore defensive specialist
Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) had a career-night with a personal-best 27 digs. The match propelled her season-total to 229, setting a new career-record for most digs in a season.
"She played her best match of the season," head coach
Millicent Van Norden said of her libero. "She started the match slow, but challenged herself and played outstanding in the third and fourth sets. Hopefully she can continue to play at that level in our upcoming matches."
Freshman outside hitter
Jordan Yauch (Biological Science) paced the offense with 13 kills, her third-consecutive match with double-digit kills, off a .276 clip while adding in a career-best four service aces. Junior middle blocker
Rondolyn Bryant (Exercise Physiology) eclipsed double-digit terminations for the first time this season with 11 on a team-best .364 hitting percentage with four total blocks. Freshman setter
Sarah Thomas (Accounting and Finance) quarterbacked the attack with 40 assists while sophomore outside hitters
Blessing Dunn (Business Management) and
Lane Hindenburg (Exercise Science and Physiology) chipped in multiple service aces each with three and two.
At the net, Bryant and sophomore middle blocker
Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) both logged four blocks while Dunn, Yauch and senior middle blocker
Keke Richards (Business Management) all contributed two apiece.
"We changed up our strategy after the second set and went with a faster lineup that worked well," Van Norden remarked. "But when you're down 2-0 in a match, you leave yourself very little room for error. We need to work on eliminating the slow starts in matches."
Facing elimination after dropping the opening two sets, New Orleans (3-14, 0-4 Southland Conference) boasted a .303 hitting percentage while holding McNeese State (5-15, 1-4 Southland Conference) to a -.034 hitting percentage to muscle out the 25-15 set three victory. UNO jumped out to an early 8-1 lead, using a kill from Richards, a block from Grice and Yauch and a service ace from Uline to spark the eight-point spree, and never trailed. McNeese tried to fight their way into the frame and end the match, getting as close at 10-7 before back-to-back points for the Privateers recreated the five-point separation. Three-consecutive service aces from Dunn pushed the home side ahead 18-10, sparking an 11-0 run that gave UNO a double-digit advantage at 23-11.
Despite hitting a team-best 15 kills off a .323 clip, the Privateers could not force a fifth set against McNeese State. The two sides kept the frame within two for the first half of the frame, until a three-point rally by the visitors gave them the advantage at 16-13. The Privateers were unable to bring the set to within one until a late 3-0 by the host made it 22-21. McNeese State responded with back-to-back points to force match point, ending the contest two plays later.
The Privateers begin a three-match road swing starting at Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. UNO returns to the HPC on Tuesday, Oct. 18, when they host Nicholls at 7 p.m. Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.
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