EDINBURG, Texas –
Laura Piva and
Courtney Roundtree each registered 10 kills but the New Orleans Privateers could not overcome 17 UTRGV service aces in a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 25-14) decision on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The match was tied at 1-1 in the third set and the Privateers were within range trailing by just three points at 16-13. That's when the Vaqueros hit a big run, scoring nine of the last 11 points in the set.
Martina Franco and Dimitra Nanou combined for four kills in that stretch to give the Vaqueros a 2-1 lead in the match.
New Orleans grabbed an early 5-3 lead in the fourth set behind a kill and a block from
Ava Kennon and a
Peyton Cole service ace. The Vaqueros responded though with eight consecutive points to surge ahead 11-5.
UTRGV had back-to-back service aces to set up match point which was converted on an unassisted kill by Franco to seal the victory for the home side.
New Orleans nearly took the first set as they were ahead 22-20 behind resilient defense that registered 19 digs in the set. It was the Vaqueros who pushed through with a 5-0 spurt keyed by two service aces to close it out.
The Privateers hit .370 in the second set and had just two errors in 27 attempts. New Orleans rallied back from an 18-14 deficit behind Roundtree who had four kills during the remainder of the set.
Two blocks from the tandem of Kennon and
Alessandra Meoni set the Privateers up with set point which they converted on a UTRGV attack error which tied the match at 1-1.
Julianna Bryant led the Vaqueros offense with 16 kills. Dimitra Nanou had 11 kills and 14 digs. Isabella Costantini had 44 assists.
INSIDE THE BOX
Rylie Hallman had 19 assists while
Defne Eciroglu finished with 16 assists. The setters also combined for 18 digs with Hallman registering 11. Meoni had seven kills and four total blocks.
Vanae Sapp had six kills and eight digs. Kennon finished with six kills and
Ryan Williams added nine digs.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to Houston to face HCU on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
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