Volleyball Begins Season At Redhawks Drury Hotels Invitational

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans volleyball season will officially begin over the weekend, when the Privateers make the trip to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to take part in the Redhawks Drury Hotels Invitational. On Friday, UNO will play its first match of 2016 against host Southeast Missouri at 12 p.m. before taking on in-state foe Louisiana Tech at 4:30 p.m. with the weekend finale against Illinois-Chicago on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Privateer Head Coach Millicent Van Norden enters her third season on the Lakefront with an experience corps of five starters among eight returners from last season while adding the talents of seven newcomers. Sophomore outside hitter Blessing Dunn (Business Management), the 2015 team leader in points (352), points per set (3.17), kills (304) and kills per set (2.74) and recently named Preseason All-Southland Conference, highlights the veterans with senior middle blocker Keke Richards (Business Management), junior middle blocker Rondolyn Bryant (Exercise Physiology), sophomore defensive specialist Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) and middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) all back for 2016.

"I think our schedule is real opportunistic for us to test our team and learn who we are and to figure out what is our most stable lineup day in and day out." Van Norden said. "These tournaments will be a great test for us in preparation for conference play."

The 2016 campaign kicks off with a bout against Southeast Missouri State. Last season, the Redhawks ranked in the top third of Division I schools in digs per set with 16.01 and total team digs with 1,841. The unit returns its defensive anchor from last year in Jade Mortimer, who tallied 445 digs for Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks went 10-20 in 2015and return their top offensive arms in Preseason All-Ohio Valley  Conference honoree Nzingha Clarke (102 total blocks, 303 kills, .323 attack percentage) and Krissa Gearring (297 kills).

"The first opponent is a unique situation," explained Van Norden. "You don't have an opportunity to do any scouting in advance, so everyone is pretty much flying blind in the opener."

Also on the first day of competition, the Privateers will clash with in-state foe Louisiana Tech. Like the Redhawks, the Lady Techsters return their top defender from their 10-20 squad last season in Alejandra Aviles, who is coming off a junior campaign when she averaged 4.42 digs per set. UNO will look to turn the tide in the series with Louisiana Tech, as the Privateers have lost the last three matchups.

"Both teams we play on the first day have tremendous defenders," Van Norden acknowledged. "Averaging over four digs per set is not easy to do. It shows that they can make plays that most players can't. To counter these threats, we have been working on speeding up our offense and practicing ball placement."

The final opponent at the Redhawks invitational is Chicago-Illinois, an opponent the Privateers have not seen since the 1992 season. Coming off a 12-19 season, the Flames brings back setter Nicole Johnson, who finished second in the Horizon League last season with in assists (1,311) and third in service aces (38), as well as Alyssa Ehrhardt, who finished last season 14^th in the league with 291 kills.

"All the teams in this competition are in rebuilding mode," Van Norden concluded. "These matches will give us a great chance to see how we do in difficult situations and how we fight back when we are down."

Following the Redhawks Invitational, the volleyball team will be back on the road on Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3 as the Privateers compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Hilton Garden Hill Invitational. UNO will host Houston Baptist on Thursday, Sept. 22 at the Human Performance Center in the home opener at 7 p.m. Admission to all Privateer matches is free.