Volleyball Tussles With Blazers At Jax State Invitational

BOX SCORE (PDF)

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The University of New Orleans opened up the Saturday slate in the Jax State Invitational with a match against the University of Alabama at Birmingham, dropping three-straight competitive sets (25-22, 25-20, 26-24) to the Blazers.

For the second-consecutive contest, the Privateers (2-7) finished the match with five solo blocks, tied with the previous outing for the season-high. Seniors Takierra Boughton (Interdisciplinary Studies) and Keke Richards (Business Management) both finished with a pair of solo blocks with junior Rondolyn Bryant (Exercise Science) chipping in one. Freshman Brianna Vega (Biological Science) and sophomore Blessing Dunn (Business Management) teamed up for an assisted block, giving UNO six total in the contest.

"I think we are still performing lower than we are capable," head coach Millicent Van Norden said. "There were some areas where we were competitive and aggressive like in our blocking, digging and serving. We just have to keep adding layers each week in order to reach our full potential."

Dunn paced the offense with 15 kills while chipping in eight digs with Vega adding nine. Richards continued her accurate stretch on the attack, boasted a hitting percentage over .500 for the third-consecutive match and sixth time this season with a .571 clip. Sarah Thomas (Accounting & Finance) dished out 32 assists for the Privateers.

Defensively, Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) anchored the royal blue and silver with 15 digs. Overall, UNO finished with 36 digs versus 35 for UAB (6-4).

Facing elimination after dropping back-to-back competitive sets, the Privateers played from behind for the beginning of the third frame until a pair of kills from Dunn highlighted a 5-0 run to put UNO up 18-14 with Vega and Boughton also logging kills in the stretch. The Blazers brought the stanza to within one with three-straight points before a kill from Vega and error by UAB recreated a three-point cushion at 21-18. UNO held onto the lead and even got set point at 24-23 off a kill from Dunn, but UAB fired off three-consecutive points to end the match.

UNO had its best offensive set in the opener, hitting .320 but a .367 clip by the Blazers propelled them to the 25-22 victory. The Privateers created an early advantage in the stanza, using kills from Boughton and Dunn with a service ace from Cara Sanders (Marketing) to fuel a 5-0 run to put the New Orleans up 9-4. UAB knotted up the score at 12-12, retaking the advantage at 19-17. Vega and Richards logged kills in a three-point spree by the Privateers to give them their final lead of the set at 20-19 before an equal response by UAB made it 22-20 in favor of the Blazers.

UAB opened up the second set with six-straight points put UNO down early. The Privateers fought back with a 6-0 run of their own, capped off by back-to-back service aces from Vega, to bring it within one at 12-11. UNO managed to tie up the score at 14-14 but a 6-2 run by UAB recreated separation at 20-16.

The Privateers are back in action today at 2 p.m., when they conclude play in the Jax State Invitational against Jackson State. UNO's first home match is slated for Thursday, Sept. 22, when the Privateers play host to Houston Baptist in the Human Performance Center. First serve for the contest is slated for 7 p.m. and admission is free.