NEW ORLEANS – The Privateers and Lady Jacks tied 25 times and the University of New Orleans (9-14, 3-8 Southland) nearly put the closing touches on Stephen F. Austin State University's (22-5, 10-1 Southland) seven match win streak Thursday but SFA was able to improve to 10-1 in conference play with a four-set victory, 25-12, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 in the Human Performance Center.
Blessing Dunn posted her seventh double-double of the season with 12 kills and 14 digs,
Manela Grau finished with her fourth (15 assists and 10 digs, two aces) and
Kyra Hunter led the Privateers with 13 kills and three blocked shots.
Andrea Nava led the club with 15 digs and
Sarah Thomas concluded with 30 assists, two aces and seven digs.
FIRST SET
The Lady Jacks went 20-of-25 in the 25-12 opening set victory. New Orleans also hit the ball well, hitting .385 in the opener behind
Brianna Vega's four kills.
SECOND SET
SFA led 16-12 before the Privateers collected back-to-back-to-back points, forcing a Lady Jack timeout. UNO completed the comeback moments later, knotting the set up at 17.
New Orleans took a 22-20 lead off a
Lane Hindenburg kill,
Sarah Thomas ace and
Kaitlyn Grice/Hunter block as Stephen F. Austin took its final timeout of the set down two.
For good measure, Dunn followed with a kill and Grice/Hunter made it match point UNO. After an SFA point, Dunn clinched the set for the Blue and Silver with a kill as New Orleans tied the match with the 25-21 victory.
The Privateers continued to be efficient offensively, hitting .309 in the set.
THIRD SET
There were eight ties in the close set that ultimately went to SFA 25-23. Dunn picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs to this point. Grice and Hunter teamed on two blocks and Grau was credited with two aces.
FOURTH SET
Down two in the middle stages of the set, Hindenburg and Grice registered back-to-back kills to tie the stanza at 11. The clubs went on to tie the set at 12 before the Lady Jacks took a 16-12 advantage.
The next installment of the rally queens featured New Orleans posting four consecutive points on the scoreboard to even it up at 16.
Following the SFA timeout, the Lady Jacks and Privateers traded points before Purple and Black posted three straight to take a 20-17 lead.
UNO capitalized on Lady Jack errors and tied the contest at 21-all with back-to-back-to-back points before Nava's ace gave the Privateers a 22-21 lead.
Stephen F. Austin took a 24-22 lead off back-to-back blocks to make it match point but Grice had other plans, giving UNO another chance. The Lady Jacks clinched the victory 25-23 for their eighth consecutive win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Vega, Grice and
Rondolyn Bryant finished with seven kills apiece and
Jordan Schumacher added eight digs.
NEXT UP
New Orleans concludes its home stand hosting Lamar University Saturday at 12 p.m. Live stats and video will be available and can be accessed by visiting
UNOPrivateers.com.
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