BATON ROUGE - Privateers Beach Volleyball defeats UCA 4-1 and falls to No. 5 ranked LSU 1-4 with one electrifying win over the Tigers under the lights at the Battle on the Bayou.
UNO 4 UCA 1
The Privateers have met the Sugar Bears three times. The two previous wins over UCA were both 3-2 wins with UCA getting the victory at flights four and five. After the 4-1 win with victories at flights four and five, Head Coach
Amy Blanke says "finding the right formula for flights four and five provides relief for flights one through three."
- To start the first match, pairs four and five were both dominate. The fairly new combo at flight four, Liz Gialanella and Ivana Carvalho Peixe, won in straight sets with ease over the Sugar Bears. Valerie Vujnovich and Taylore Louviere, at flight five, took a moment to get going but topped UCA in set three with a 19 -17 win.
- Trinity Jackson and Alexa Spartz at flight 3 also emptied the tank with a nail biter as they pushed UCA to a third set before coming out on top with a final set score of 15 -12.
- At flight one, Lucie Pokorna and Ania Esarte earned a comfortable win in straight sets over UCA, 21-17, 22-20.
UNDER THE LIGHTS WITH LSU
The Privateers flights 3 - 5 were defeated in straight sets by the Tigers on their home court. This was the only match of the 2022 season where the Privateers faced a top five nationally ranked opponent.
- Flight four with Gialanella and Carvalho Peixe battled into double digits with the Tigers but could not hold on. 21-10, 21-13
- The flight two match was filled with great swings from both Walsh and Volpi who were tied with the Tigers at several points of each set. 21-13, 21-17
POKORNA AND ESARTE MAKE HISTORY
Both Pokorna and Esarte continue to make history securing their 24th win with one over No. 5 ranked LSU. Pokorna and Esarte topped LSU in the third set with a score of 15-13 after a 1-0 comeback.
"Not once was I worried about that game, even after they lost the first set. Their focus, their discipline, and their consistency definitely won that game," says Coach Blanke about the pair.
"LSU is a big school, so going into the game we thought we have nothing to lose. Let's just focus on our side. After the first set, we saw we were up there with them and realized: we can definitely win this game," says Pokorna.
"It's great to beat LSU, they are ranked number six, but I think we have to focus on the next game, and take each game at a time," says Esarte when asked about how this win will add to their momentum as they approach the conference tournament.
UP NEXT
The Privateers will conclude their regular season on Saturday at the Battle on the Bayou tournament against Southeastern at 11 a.m. and Nicholls at 3 p.m.
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