LAFAYETTE, La. – The New Orleans Privateers were turned away by substantial Prairie View runs in each of the first two sets as they fell 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-18) to the Panthers on Saturday at Earl K. Long Gymnasium to conclude the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic.
Both teams traded points early and the first 20 rallies were split evenly. That's when Prairie View went on a 10-1 run to open a big lead and put the opening set out of reach. The Panthers hit .433 in the opening set and had 15 kills to seven for the Privateers. In that 10-1 run, the Panthers had four kills, two blocks and an ace.
Prairie View used another run around the same time to break an 8-8 tie in the second set. The Panthers went on a run of five straight points and led by as many as eight points. New Orleans scored on four straight rallies to cut the Prairie View lead to 22-18 but after a timeout the Panthers scored the next three to close out the set and grab a 2-0 lead.
New Orleans established early momentum in their favor with a 7-2 edge out the gate. Four Privateers contributed kills in that stretch to give the Privateers a solid early advantage.
The Panthers erased that though when they went on a 10-3 run to go from down four points to ahead 17-14. Two Panthers closed the gap to a point but that was as close as the Privateers got for the remainder of the set.
INSIDE THE BOX
Chandler Lee and
Molly Kehoe co-led the squad in kills with five each. Kehoe also added 11 digs for a weekend total of 36.
Courtney Roundtree,
Ryan Williams and
Sydney Gott all had four kills. Gott was in on three blocks at the net.
Rita Zecchin made her return to the court and had eight digs in two sets played.
The Panthers were led by Bailee Hewitt's 12 kills and Kylee Owens' 11 kills. Prairie View hit .293 for the match. Jacqueline Nino added a match-high 16 digs.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will open Southland play on Thursday, Sept. 21 when they host Northwestern State at the Human Performance Center.
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