NEW ORLEANS-The "second season" opens for the University of New Orleans volleyball team, Thursday, September 21, when the Privateers open Southland Conference competition at home against the University of the Incarnate Word at 6:30 p. m.
New Orleans returns to the Human Performance Center after three straight weeks on the road. The last time the Privateers played a home match was August 26 when they hosted the New Orleans Invitational.
"Three weeks on the road were rough," said head coach
Millicent Van Norden. "They had to leave campus and their comfort zone and get acclimated to other facilities. It's nice to prepare for one match in one day as opposed to two matches in a single day."
New Orleans (6-6) went 1-2 last weekend at the Fight Like Hal Invitational last weekend in Birmingham, Alabama with a three-set win over Mississippi Valley State and defeats at the hands of Alabama Birmingham and Western Carolina.
UNO will rely on junior middle blocker
Kaitlyn Grice, the Southland Conference (SLC) leader in hitting percentage at .360. For the third time this season Grice garnered all-tournament recognition at the Fight Like Hal Tournament. She received all-tournament accolades at the New Orleans Invitational and Tennessee State Invitational. Grice also leads the SLC in blocks at 1.30 per set.
Blessing Dunn, a junior from Jacksonville, Alabama, leads New Orleans in kills (107) and digs (139).
Lane Hindenburg has 81 kills on the season and is tied for the team lead with
Blessing Dunn in service aces with 12. Hindenburg was an all-tournament selection at the North Texas Challenge in Denton, Texas.
As a team New Orleans ranks fourth in the Southland Conference in blocks with 2.09 per set and fifth in hitting percentage at .189.
Van Norden acknowledges conference play adds more intensity to each match.
"Everyone's playing for an opportunity to compete for a tournament championship and just compared to last season everyone in our conference is better—including us. So it should be good."
Incarnate Word is in the midst of a six-game losing streak after winning their season opener over Quinnipiac back on August 31.
The last time the Privateers and the Cardinals met was last season, October 22, 2016, at the Human Performance Center. UIW took a straight sets 3-0 win (27-25, 25-18, 25-22) over the Privateers.
UNO's next outing will be Saturday, September 23, at the Human Performance Center against Texas A and M-Corpus Christi at Noon.
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@UNOPrivateers on Twitter,
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/UNOPrivateers on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
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