Volleyball Hits The Road To Take On Abilene Christian

NEW ORLEANS – After opening up Southland Conference play with back-to-back matches at the Human Performance Center, the University of New Orleans volleyball team hits the road to take on Abilene Christian in a conference tilt on Thursday, Sept. 29. The match is scheduled to at 6:30 p.m.

This is the second-consecutive season that the Privateers venture to Abilene, Texas, for the regular season matchup, as the 2015 installment of the series also took place on ACU's home court. Since the series began in 2013, UNO has yet to best the Wildcats in their three bouts.

"Abilene Christian is a skilled team," Privateers head coach Millicent Van Norden explained. "They are strong when attacking from the pins and rarely commit errors on offense. In order to win we will have to present a strong defensive stance by slowing their offensive attack, which has been our focus in practice the past few days."

New Orleans ended the two-match homestand on Saturday, Sept. 24, dropping a 3-1 decision against Lamar to make them 3-12 overall and 0-2 in the Southland Conference. UNO averages 11.06 kills on a .144 hitting percentage with 10.42 assists, 12.49 digs, 1.58 blocks and 1.36 service aces per set, the second-highest mark in the SLC.

Individually, Sarah Thomas (Accounting and Finance) ranks third in the league with 9.02 assists per set, the 24^th-highest average by a freshman in Division I. Thomas's primary options are outside hitters Jordan Yauch (Biological Science), Blessing Dunn (Business Management) and Brianna Vega (Biological Science) who average 2.78, 2.37 and 2.15 kills per set. Cara Sanders (Marketing) has been the Privateers' top threat from the service line, averaging 0.33 aces per set to tie for third in the conference.

On defense, Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) anchors the royal blue and silver with 3.62 digs per set, the eighth-highest average in the Southland Conference, while middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) leads the team at the net with 0.82 blocks per set.

In Southland Conference competition, Thomas's assists average improves to 11.00, tied for third in the conference with Sanders' .60 aces per in SLC play also ranking third. Uline also finds herself in the top third of conference-only matches statistics, boasting the fourth-highest digs per set average at 4.57.

Abilene Christian enters the match after a 1-1 opening week in Southland Conference action, improving their overall record to 2-15. The Wildcats average 10.06 kills off a .122 clip with 9.13 assists, 12.57 digs, 1.16 service aces and the third-best blocks per set average at 2.25. Jacey Smith leads the attack with 2.76 kills per set, getting passes from Kendall Bosse who boasts 7.35 assist.

On defense, ACU is paced by Lexi Mercier and Lauren Walker, who rank fifth and sixth in the conference in blocks per set with 1.08 and 1.00. Amanda Chapa posts a team-best 3.92 digs per set.

In league action, Abilene Christian leads the SLC with 1.88 service aces and 2.88 blocks with Smith averaging .88 aces while Mercier's block per set average jumps to 1.88.
The Privateers return to the friendly confines of the Human Performance Center on Tuesday, Oct. 4, when they host McNees State. First serve for the Southland Conference matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m., admission is free.