Uline Has Historical Outing In Volleyball's Five-Set Victory Over Southeast Louisiana

HAMMOND, Louisiana – The University of New Orleans survived a strong rally from Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday afternoon after winning the opening two sets on the road, prevailing in five-set victory 3-2 (25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 26-28, 15-13) for the Privateers' first Southland Conference win of the season.

For the second-consecutive match, sophomore defensive specialist Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) broke her previous career-high in digs, this time posting 30 in the Privateers' victory. It is just the second time that a Privateer has reached 30 digs in a match since the NCAA changed to 25-point sets prior to the 2008 season, with Nicky Valenti recording 31 in the 2009 campaign. Uline also posted a team-high five service aces, matching her personal-best.

"We knew we were going to have to work hard to win the match," head coach Millicent Van Norden remarked. "Getting ahead in the first two sets gave us an advantage and finding a way offensively and defensively gave us a tea win. It was a great team effort!"

Sophomore outside hitter Blessing Dunn (Business Management) logged her fifth double-double of the season with 18 kills and digs in the five-set triumph. Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) also finished the contest with double-digit kills with 12 on a .348 hitting percentage while also recording a game-high seven total blocks. Freshman setter Sarah Thomas (Accounting and Financing) dished out a game-high 47 assists.

New Orleans (4-14, 1-2 SLC) led for the bulk of the opening set, only trailing after back-to-back points from Southeastern Louisiana (2-15, 1-3 SLC) made it 2-1. The Privateers responded with a 3-0 run and led the rest of the frame. Southland tied the score at 10-all, but a kill from junior middle blocker Rondolyn Bryant (Exercise Physiology) put UNO back on top. The score stayed within two until a 3-0 rally for the Privateers made it 17-14.

UNO controlled the second set, creating an early 10-4 advantage. The lead quickly grew to eight at 14-6, but Southeastern brought the deficit to within three at 16-13. Southeastern stayed within three until UNO ended the frame with the final four points.

Facing elimination, Southeastern won back-to-back competitive frames to force the tiebreaker set. The hosts never led by more than three in the third set, with ten tied scores littered throughout the frame including a tied 23-all score.

The score was tied 23-all again in the fourth set, and Southeastern looked to end it with back-to-back, but the Privateers recorded a point to make it 24-24. UNO got its first match point at 26-25 after scoring back-to-back points, but three-straight points by the Lions ended the frame.

New Orleans led the entire final set, scoring the first point and creating separation at 3-1. UNO earned match point at 14-11, but Southland tried to mount another comeback with back-to-back points to make it 14-13. Dunn ended the match with a kill.

The road swing continues on Thursday, Oct. 13, when the Privateers play at Northwestern State at 7 p.m. UNO will next play at the Human Performance Center on Tuesday, Oct. 18, when Nicholls come to town for a 7 p.m. match. Admission is free.