NEW ORLEANS – The last week before conference play starts will commence with three matches in the Pelican Invitational. The New Orleans Privateers will play at Tulane on Thursday before returning home for matches against Providence and Alabama State on Saturday and Sunday.
Both home matches are at 12 p.m. and will be carried on ESPN+. The road match against Tulane will also be carried on ESPN+.
The Privateers went 3-1 overall last weekend with victories over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Southern and Grambling to improve their record to 5-5 on the year. In all three wins, the Privateers held their opponent to a hitting percentage of .103 or lower.
Courtney Roundtree earned All-Tournament honors after hitting .348 in the matches that were tied into the Southland-SWAC Challenge. Roundtree had a total of 46 kills in four matches and is on an active streak of eight consecutive matches with double-digit kills.
As a team, the Privateers are third in the Southland in hitting percentage at .227. They also have the third most kills of anyone in the conference with 441, trailing only Lamar (532) and Stephen F. Austin (474).
Defne Eciroglu cleared 1,100 assists for her career after last weekend and had 126 in the first home weekend. Eciroglu is now 224 assists away from tying for 10
th on the program's career assist list and is sixth in the conference in assists per set at 7.20.
The Privateers are 23-64 all-time against Tulane and the teams last played in the spring of 2021. New Orleans is 0-1 all-time against Providence and 3-1 all-time vs. Alabama State.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Tulane (5-3) has already gotten an extended look at the Southland with three opponents from the conference. The Green Wave beat McNeese and Lamar in five sets and defeated Southeastern in four sets. Avery Burks was named to the preseason American Conference Team.
Providence (7-3) went 3-0 in the Friar Classic that they hosted last weekend with wins over Central Connecticut State, Merrimack and Holy Cross. Sophia Adkins paces the Friars offense with 3.72 kills per set (134 total).
Alabama State (0-9) suffered losses to Furman, Winthrop and North Florida last weekend. The Hornets were picked to finish fifth in the SWAC Preseason Poll and they had three members of the preseason all-conference team in Kaylen Hines, Kamrynn Clay and Jyriah Morgan.
BLUES ON TUES. NEWSLETTER
To keep up with all athletics news at the University of New Orleans, subscribe
here for our weekly newsletter.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@PrivateersVB on Twitter/X,
@PrivateersVB on Instagram, like
/PrivateersVB on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
