Birmingham, Alabama - The University of New Orleans volleyball team closed its non-conference schedule Saturday, losing to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in straight sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-17.
New Orleans (6-6) completed the weekend at the Fight Like Hal Memorial Invitational, 1-2, with the lone victory coming Friday evening against Mississippi Valley State, 3-0 (25-10,25-15,26-24).
UNO middle blocker
Kaitlyn Grice was named to the all-tournament team despite suffering an injury early in the match against UAB. It was the third all-tourney selection of the season for the Valrico, Florida junior.
"I thought our defense was there but we were just too inconsistent on offense," said head coach
Millicent Van Norden. "When we had opportunities to score, we didn't. That's the biggest difference on the scoreboard."
All three sets saw the Privateers fall victim to late surges by UAB.
The first set was tied at 20. However, UAB scored 5 straight points to win, 25-20.
In set two New Orleans fought back gamely after trailing by seven at 22-15 to tie it at 22-22 on a kill by
Blessing Dunn. A service ace by Zahria Richard was the last of three consecutive points and set point for a 25-22 second set win.
Facing an 18-16 deficit in set three, the Privateers saw UAB pulled away, going on a 7-1 run to clinch the match.
New Orleans was led by junior
Blessing Dunn with team highs of 9 kills and 15 digs.
Lane Hindenburg had 7 kills in the match and freshman
Rhyan Rand had 5 kills and 5 digs.
"We learned what we are really good at and what we need to work hard on to retain those. We don't have a long way to go to be the complete team we want to be. I can't wait to get back in the gym Monday and I believe we are ready for conference play," said Van Norden.
The Privateers next home game will be the Southland Conference opener versus University of the Incarnate Word, Thursday, September 21, 6:30 p. m. at the Human Performance Center.
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/UNOPrivateers on Facebook and subscribe to the
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For more information on New Orleans Women's Volleyball and Privateers Athletics, visit our official website,
www.unoprivateers.com or follow us on social media.
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