Beach Volleyball To Wrap 2017 Season With New Orleans Invitational

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans beach volleyball team will look to wrap up the 2017 season on a high note over the weekend when the Privateers play host to Houston Baptist and Tulane in the New Orleans Invitational on Saturday at the UNO Beach Courts.

UNO will play the first and third matches of the day with first serve against HBU and the Green Wave slated for 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, while Tulane and Houston Baptist will square off starting at 1 p.m. All three of the No. 1 pairings will be televised live on Cox Sports Television at 12:07, 3:07 and 6:07 p.m.

The Privateers enter the tournament 5-14 and looking to snap an eight-match skid. New Orleans' last win came back on March 25 when it defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5-0, during the Third Coast Classic in Houston, but six of the subsequent defeats came at the hands of nationally-ranked programs. UNO has previously played both of Saturday's opponents but came up short in both contests as the Privateers dropped a 4-1 decision at Houston Baptist on March 24 and fell 5-0 to Tulane during the 5^th Annual Surf & Turf Invitational on April 1 in Miami.

In pairs play, UNO sports a 28-67 record with the most success coming in No. 3 action at 7-12. The Privateers' winningest tandem to date is freshman Victoria Corcoran and redshirt-junior Cara Sander, who are 6-11 at the top of the New Orleans lineup. Freshman Rachel Kuhn has the most individual wins with seven while Corcoran and senior Brook Frank both have six.

Tulane comes across town with a 22-13 overall record and fresh off a 2-2 showing at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Tournament last weekend in Emerson, Ga. The Green Wave are 113-62 in pairs play and the most successful tandem on the squad is Tea Juric and Kaylie McHugh with a 27-8 mark. Juric leads the team with 27 individual victories, followed by Tarin Mergener with 24 while Madeline Mertz and Annie Shurtz have 21 wins each.

Houston Baptist, meanwhile, heads to the Crescent City 11-13 overall and losers of its last three matches, including an 0-2 showing at UCA Beach Tournament last weekend in Conway, Ark., with 3-2 losses to ULM and host Central Arkansas. The Huskies are 64-56 in pairs action with the top team being Tori Hinojosa and Kayla Armer at 18-7 at the No. 2 position. Armer and Hinojosa share the team lead with 18 wins apiece while Aeriel Horton and Jessica Wooten follow with 16 victories each.
 
2017 NEW ORLEANS INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Match 1: New Orleans vs Houston Baptist, 10:00 a.m.
Match 2: Houston Baptist vs Tulane, 1:00 p.m.
Match 3: New Orleans vs Tulane, 4:00 p.m.