Beach Volleyball Has Learning Experience At Surf & Turf Invite

MIAMI – When in the course of building a program, tough times will come as the learning curve become steeper. Facing a who's who among college beach volleyball programs, the University of New Orleans came up short over the weekend during the Fifth Annual Surf & Turf Invitational at the Lummus Park Courts.

The Privateers' No. 3 tandem of senior Brook Frank and freshman Rachel Kuhn posted the lone pairs victory along the way with a 21-17, 21-23, 16-14 win over Arizona State's Frances Giedraitis and Kwyn Johnson and came up just shy in a 14-21, 21-5, 15-11 loss to Tulane's Tarin Mergener and Annie Shurtz. UNO, however, fell prey to six nationally-ranked teams as the Privateers dropped 5-0 decisions to No. 3 UCLA, No. 14 Florida Atlantic and No. 15 Florida International on Friday before falling 4-1 to No. 12 Arizona State and posting 5-0 losses to No. 4 Florida State and No. 18 Tulane on Saturday.

"I'm proud of how we competed this weekend," UNO head coach Millicent Van Norden said. "We played the top teams and competed. We had solid consistent showings from Brook and Rachel in every match. That pair winning against Arizona State and taking Tulane to a tie breaker is a sign of the direction this team is going. We learned a lot and we are better for having this opportunity."

All but one of the pairs contests were straight-set decisions on Friday. The lone exception came at the top of the lineup against FAU as New Orleans freshman Victoria Corcoran and redshirt-junior Cara Sander posted a 22-20 opening-set win over Jessalyn Kinlaw and Megan Rice before falling in the next two – 21-12 and 15-11.

It was a similar story for UNO on Saturday as Frank and Kuhn were the lone Privateer duo to extend multiple contests into a third set while the tandem of sophomore Samantha Uline and freshman Brianna Vega bounced back from a 21-11 loss to Sage Patchell and Mia Rivera with a 21-19 victory in the showdown with Arizona State before dropping the deciding frame, 15-11.

The Privateers return to action on Tuesday, April 18, when New Orleans plays host to ULM at the UNO Beach Courts. The showdown with the Warhawks is the first of three consecutive home contests for the Privateers as the team will wrap up the 2017 season on Saturday, April 29, when it hosts Houston Baptist and Tulane in the New Orleans Invitational.
 
No. 15 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL PANTHERS (14-6) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-8) – 5-0
No. 1: Katie Hogan/Helene Thelle (FIU) def. Victoria Corcoran/Cara Sander (UNO) – 21-16, 21-16
No. 2: Kari Peterson/Taija Thomas (FIU) def. Veronica Corcoran/Blessing Dunn (UNO) – 21-16, 21-16
No. 3: Margherita Bianchin/Federica Frasca (FIU) def. Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) – 21-13, 21-16
No. 4: Lina Bernier/Natalia Giron (FIU) def. Lauren Levy/Rhyan Rand (UNO) – 21-3, 21-15
No. 5: Estefanie Bethancourt/Anabela Sataric (FIU) def. Samantha Uline/Brianna Vega (UNO) – 21-11, 21-8
 
No. 14 FLORIDA ATLANTIC OWLS (18-2) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-9) – 5-0
No. 1: Jessalyn Kinlaw/Megan Rice (FAU) def. Victoria Corcoran/Cara Sander (UNO) – 20-22, 21-12, 15-11
No. 2: Gabby Dischler/Candace Lacour (FAU) def. Veronica Corcoran/Blessing Dunn (UNO) – 21-16, 21-13
No. 3: Nicole Grant/Nicole Navarro (FAU) def. Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) – 21-14, 21-17
No. 4: Jazmine Barker/Brittany Pellitteri (FAU) def. Lauren Levy/Rhyan Rand (UNO) – 21-13, 21-12
No. 5: Ashlan Cunningham/Julia Lewkowitz (FAU) def. Samantha Uline/Brianna Vega (UNO) – 21-5, 21-17
 
No. 3 UCLA BRUINS (15-2) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-10) – 5-0
No. 1: Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara (UCLA) def. Victoria Corcoran/Cara Sander (UNO) – 21-16, 21-12
No. 2: Kamila Tan/Madi Yeomans (UCLA) def. Veronica Corcoran/Blessing Dunn (UNO) – 21-15, 21-15
No. 3: Savvy Simo/Torrey Van Winden (UCLA) def. Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) – 21-13, 21-9
No. 4: Izzy Carey/Elise Zappia (UCLA) def. Lauren Levy/Rhyan Rand (UNO) – 21-10, 21-8
No. 5: Jordan Anderson/Chanti Holroyd (UCLA) def. Samantha Uline/Brianna Vega (UNO) – 21-13, 21-14
 
No. 12 ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (8-10) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-11) – 4-1
No. 1: Bianca Arellano/Whitney Follette (ASU) def. Victoria Corcoran/Cara Sander (UNO) – 21-10, 21-8
No. 2: Madison Berridge/Oluoma Okaro (ASU) def. Veronica Corcoran/Blessing Dunn (UNO) – 21-12, 21-10
No. 3: Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) def. Frances Giedraitis/Kwyn Johnson (ASU) – 21-17, 21-23, 16-14
No. 4: Katelyn Carballo/Ellyson Lundberg (ASU) def. Lauren Levy/Rhyan Rand (UNO) – 21-14, 21-14
No. 5: Sage Patchell/Mia Rivera (ASU) def. Samantha Uline/Brianna Vega (UNO) – 21-11, 19-21, 15-11
 
No. 18 TULANE GREEN WAVE (15-7) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-12) – 5-0
No. 1: Madeline Mertz/Lan Nguyen (TUL) def. Victoria Corcoran/Cara Sander (UNO) – 21-13, 21-10
No. 2: Tea Juric/Kaylie McHugh (TUL) def. Veronica Corcoran/Blessing Dunn (UNO) – 21-10, 21-9
No. 3: Tarin Mergener/Annie Shurtz (TUL) def. Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) – 14-21, 21-15, 15-11
No. 4: Briana Correa/Hannah Holmes (TUL) def. Lauren Levy/Rhyan Rand (UNO) – 25-23, 21-7
No. 5: Christina McAfee/Sarah Strasner (TUL) def. Samantha Uline/Brianna Vega (UNO) – 21-13, 21-16
 
No. 4 FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (15-6) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-13) – 5-0
No. 1: Leigh Andrews/Sierra Sanchez (FSU) def. Blessing Dunn/Cara Sander (UNO) – 21-16, 21-8
No. 2: Vanessa Freire/Francesca Goncalves (FSU) def. Veronica Corcoran/Victoria Corcoran (UNO) – 21-13, 21-7
No. 3: Macy Jerger/Victoria Paranagua (FSU) def. Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) – 21-16, 21-5
No. 4: Breana Edwards/Molly McBain (FSU) def. Lauren Levy/Ryan Rand (UNO) – 21-7, 21-15
No. 5: Danielle Pennington/Julia Thompson (FSU) def. Samantha Uline/Brianna Vega (UNO) – 21-10, 21-9