NEW ORLEANS –
Alessandra Meoni had 20 kills and the New Orleans Privateers raced out to a big fifth set lead on their way to a 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 15-7) victory over the Nicholls Colonels on Thursday night at the Human Performance Center.
The win is the first conference opening win for the Privateers since four years to the day (Sept. 25, 2021) when they defeated Nicholls in Thibodaux.
New Orleans ran out to a 12-3 lead behind the service rotations of
Kaila Baker and
Ryan Williams along with three kills from
Akeir Scales. The Privateers got to match point at 14-5, but the Colonels saved the first two attempts at match point, but the third time was the charm thanks to
Laura Piva's 16
th kill of the night.
New Orleans has played six matches that have gone five sets against the Colonels. With the win on Thursday, the Privateers have come out on the right side of five of those contests.
Nicholls got the early momentum and built a 10-point lead in the first set. New Orleans thought saved six attempts at set point on the back of two blocks at the net and two kills from
Alessandra Meoni who finished the night with a season-high 20 kills.
Though the Colonels took the first set, the Privateers started the second set how they ended the first. New Orleans hit .333 in the second set and added three blocks while conceding none to split the first two sets.
The Privateers pushed through a tough third set that was tied late on at 17-17. Four different Privateers registered a kill from that point and
Vanae Sapp finished the third set in the home side's favor.
Nicholls got the early jump on the Privateers and led 21-15, but New Orleans rallied back to tie the set at 22-22. The Colonels scored three of the next four points behind two kills from the Southland's kills leader in Tamara Chavez that closed the fourth set and pushed a deciding fifth.
Chavez had 22 kills and 16 digs to lead Nicholls. Alyssa Williams finished with 11 kills and Melanie Guevara added 10 kills.
INSIDE THE BOX
Meoni hit .576 in 33 attempts on the night. Piva added nine digs and hit .317. Scales finished with seven kills, five total blocks and a .500 attack percentage.
Defne Eciroglu had a season-best 49 assists and added eight digs and three kills.
Peyton Cole finished with 15 digs and Sapp added 10 digs.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will host McNeese on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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