NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers (8-7, 1-0) stormed back from down a set to open up conference play with a 3-1 win (17-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17) over the Lamar Cardinals (5-6, 0-1) on Tuesday evening at the Human Performance Center.
Reigning Southland Offensive Player of the Week,
Ehize Omoghibo had another stellar match with 17 kills and no errors in 29 attempts. Lamar was limited to an attack percentage of under .100 in each of the last three sets in part due to 12 blocks by the Privateers.
CONTINUING THE CLIMB
Andrea Nava eclipsed 1,100 digs in the first set. Nava currently sits in ninth place in program history in digs.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Brianna Vega joined Omoghibo in double figures with 11 kills.
Sh'Diamond Holly had eight kills and a season-high eight blocks.
Lucie Pokorna finished with 34 assists, eight digs, and six kills.
Shelby Pullins was in on four blocks. Nava (14), Vega (11), and
Rhyan Rand (10) all landed in double figures in digs.
FIRST SET
The Cardinals made a strong opening statement by opening a 14-7 lead. They were able to maintain around that margin for the remainder of the set. The Cardinals had three different players with three kills a set in which they hit .286.
SECOND SET
New Orleans began to dominate from the first changeover. After falling behind 6-4 early, New Orleans surged in front on a 6-1 spurt that was keyed by three blocks. The Privateers gained some late separation as they held Lamar to an .024 attack percentage for the set.
THIRD SET
New Orleans never trailed in the third set. The home side raced out to a 9-4 lead, but Lamar scored three straight points in response to cut the lead to two. That's as close as it got though as the Privateers responded with five straight points of their own. New Orleans outpaced Lamar in kills 13-7 during the set to move ahead 2-1 in the match.
FOURTH SET
The home side again never trailed in the fourth and what turned out to be the final set. The Privateers hit .379 while the defense limited Lamar to nine kills and six errors. The lead was narrow at 17-15, but New Orleans put an exclamation point on the match. Three of Holly's blocks helped encompass an 8-2 run to seal the deal on the Privateers' victory.
NEXT UP
New Orleans will host Nicholls on Thursday at the Human Performance Center. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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