Beach Volleyball Drops 5-0 Contest To ULM

VIDEO INTERVIEW | QUOTES

NEW ORLEANS – The Privateers forced a pair of three-set pairs contests and came within two on two occasions, but it was not enough as the University of New Orleans beach volleyball team dropped a 5-0 decision to visiting ULM on Tuesday afternoon at the UNO Beach Courts.

A bright spot on the day for UNO was the play of the Corcoran twins as freshmen Veronica and Victoria – making their debut together as the Privateers' No. 1 tandem – gave Ana Ribeiro and Hadley Swartz all they could handle. After dropping the opening set, 21-11, the duo bounced back in a big way with a 21-15 victory in the second set. The pair fell behind 7-4 early in the final frame and rallied to knot the stanza at 7-all before the ULM squad rattled off eight-unanswered points to close out the contest.

"We're definitely disappointed in the overall outcome, but we had some surprises individually," UNO head coach Millicent Van Norden said. "We're still trending upward with some of the people in the pairings, so we're still very proud of that. Now, we know what we need to work on to get ready for next week.

"Vic and Vern definitely rose to the occasion. We put them in the top position because we wanted to challenge them. We know that they always work hard, they never give up and they don't play to the scoreboard, which is great. That's one of the things that took them into the tie-breaker."

The tone for the match was set early on as ULM's Rebecca Brown and Catherine Griffith swept senior Lauren Levy and sophomore Samantha Uline 21-18, 21-14 in No. 4 action. UNO had a chance to get on the scoreboard in No. 5 play  as sophomore Madison Miller and freshman Rhyan Rand answered a narrow 21-19 opening set loss to Grace Convey and Bailey Smith with a 21-11, set-two victory, but came up short in the deciding set, 15-8, to stake the Warhawks to a 2-0 advantage.

ULM clinched the team victory in No. 2 play as Claire Crossfield and Kori Simpson defeated sophomore Blessing Dunn and redshirt-junior Cara sander 22-20, 21-14, and Delaney Drive and Gabby Love downed the UNO duo of senior Brook Frank and Rachel Kuhn 21-16, 21-14 to set up the dramatics at the top of the lineup.

"We just need more experience, more discipline and a more competitive mindset when the game is close," Van Norden added. "We can't be satisfied just going into a third set. We have to have that drive to win. The difference today was the errors we committed late in those sets. In every one of the pairings, that would have made a big difference for us today."

The contest against ULM is the first of three-consecutive home matches to end the season as UNO will close out the 2017 campaign on Saturday, April 29, when the Privateers play host to Houston Baptist and Tulane in the New Orleans Invitational. First serve for those contests are slated for 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
 
ULM WARHAWKS (17-10) DEFEAT NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (5-14) – 5-0
No. 1: Ana Ribeiro/Hadley Swartz (ULM) def. Veronica Corcoran/Victoria Corcoran (UNO) – 21-11, 15-21, 15-7
No. 2: Claire Crossfield/Kori Simpson (ULM) def. Blessing Dunn/Cara Sander (UNO) – 22-20, 21-14
No. 3: Delaney Driver/Gabby Love (ULM) def. Brook Frank/Rachel Kuhn (UNO) – 21-16, 21-14
No. 4: Rebecca Brown/Catherine Griffith (ULM) def. Lauren Levy/Samantha Uline (UNO) – 21-18, 21-14
No. 5: Grace Convey/Bailey Smith (ULM) def. Madison Miller/Rhyan Rand (UNO) – 21-19, 11-21, 15-8
Exhibition: Grace Convey/Holland Ponthieux (ULM) def. Karli Baker/Courtney Roblez (UNO) – 21-10 (one set only)