NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team will begin the second half of their conference slate with a road match at Northwestern State on Thursday followed by a home bout against McNeese on Saturday. The Saturday match vs. McNeese will be broadcast on ESPN Plus at 1 p.m.
TIME CHANGE
The Privateers' match against Northwestern State was changed to 2 p.m. since the Demons' football game was moved to Thursday night. The scheduling changes were made so that the team can attend funeral services for Northwestern State football student-athlete, Ronnie Caldwell which will be this weekend. Our thoughts are with the Caldwell family and the Northwestern State community in this difficult time.
KIDS DAY
Saturday's match is also Kid Day. There will be a post-match autograph session with kids, an opportunity to win a free Canes gift card and free beads.
PREVIEW
The Privateers come into the match after a tough week in Texas where they went 0-2 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UIW but they will have a host of matches at the HPC upcoming. New Orleans will be at home for four of the next six contests after Thursday's match at Prather Coliseum.
Courtney Roundtree has started to pile up more kills from the middle. In her last four matches, Roundtree has at least six kills in each. She has also posted eight total blocks in that stretch. The sophomore middle also has three matches with a .350 or better hitting percentage in that same span.
Rita Zecchin has averaged 4.4 digs per set in her last five matches. The senior libero/defensive specialist posted a season-best 21 digs against Nicholls and has 66 digs over her last 15 sets entering this week's batch of games.
FIRST TIME THEY MET
Northwestern State defeated New Orleans 3-0.
Karen Cordero Barr led the offense with 18 kills as the Privateers went back-and-forth with the Lady Demons. Behind Teresa Garza's 14 kills, Northwestern State was able to hold on in tight first and second sets.
McNeese beat the Privateers 3-0 in Lake Charles which accounted for the first meeting this season.
Buse Kocakaya had a then season-high nine kills. Kayla Wilson led the Cowgirls with 12 kills on the day
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Northwestern State currently sits in fifth place in the conference standings at 5-5. They are the conference leaders in blocks at 2.75 per set and a large part of that is Reaghan Thompson who has 116 total blocks in 74 sets.
McNeese is 7-2 and 1.5 games out of a tie for first. The Cowgirls are second in the league in digs per set while Bailey Tillman leads all players with 4.75 digs per set. Carissa Chainey sits third in the conference in kills per set at 3.35 entering the week.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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@PrivateersVB on Twitter/X,
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PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
