NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team will be participating in the Pelican Invitational starting Thursday with four matches encompassed in three days. New Orleans will play UC-Riverside (Thursday, 12 PM), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Friday, 6:30 PM), Georgia State (Saturday, 12 PM) and Louisiana Tech (Saturday 3 PM).
All matches will be carried on ESPN Plus. The Privateers and Tulane will be co-hosting the Invitational. All Privateer matches will take place at the Human Performance Center.
The Privateers went 1-1 last weekend in their first home matches of the season. New Orleans gutted out a five-set win against Alcorn State and showed a lot of improvement in their second meeting against Florida A&M.
Courtney Roundtree started off the weekend with a career-high in kills. Roundtree put down 19 kills against the Lady Braves. For the season, the junior out of Maryland is second on the team in kills with 62 and first in total blocks with 24.
Chelsea Daffin is the team leader in kills and digs. The true freshman has 66 kills and 95 digs through her first eight collegiate matches. Daffin has two double-doubles this season and narrowly missed a third when she had nine kills and 11 digs against Florida A&M on Sunday.
The defense has made opponents work a lot harder in their last three matches. As a team, the Privateers are averaging 15.5 digs per set over the last three matches. Over the first five matches, the team was averaging 13.3 digs per set.
New Orleans defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff for their first win of the season and the Privateers are 5-0 all-time against the Golden Lions. The Privateers are 19-15 against Louisiana Tech. The Privateers are 0-1 against Georgia State and UC-Riverside.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
UC-Riverside (2-7) won against Cal Baptist for the first time in 27 years last Thursday. Trinity Sheridan leads the squad with 99 kills. Former Privateer, Sophia Ewalefo is second on the team in kills with 64. They both made the Riverside Classic All-Tournament Team.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-10) picked up their first victory of the season against Auburn-Montgomery on Tuesday. The Golden Lions took the Privateers to five sets in the Gamecock Classic. Zykia Jones led the team that day with 13 kills.
Georgia State (7-2) has won seven straight since dropping their first two matches of the season. The Panthers defeated Tennessee State, Bethune Cookman and Mississippi Valley State at the Tiger Invitational in Nashville. Flavia Siqueira took over the program after leading Auburn-Montgomery to a 24-9 record in 2023.
Louisiana Tech (5-5) went 2-1 last weekend in the Battle for the Boot. The wins came against Northwestern State and Southern. The loss was to Southeastern. Giulia Bonifacio leads the team in kills with 88 on the season.
WE ARE YOUR KREWE
For 54 seasons, Privateer student-athletes have had the unique experience of wearing New Orleans across their chests. Like the city itself, our sports teams have been fueled by resiliency, grit, and the unquenchable desire to win. Our city also houses the nation's biggest celebration each year. And much like a Mardi Gras parade krewe, we are tethered to our community through pride, tradition, a culture of acceptance, and finally our commitment to show that New Orleans is a world-class city to live, learn, play and work. We invite you to become more involved with the only University that truly represents New Orleans all day, every day. Join #NOLAsTeam, We Are Your Krewe!
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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