NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers battled down to the wire but fell on the short end of a 3-2 (14-25, 25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 15-13) decision to the McNeese Cowgirls on Saturday at the Human Performance Center.
In an airtight battle, the Cowgirls had two more kills than the Privateers in the final set. McNeese also held through a challenge on the last point- a call that was upheld on a Privateer attack error.
New Orleans held all the early momentum as they had five more kills and all three blocks in a dominant first set.
Laura Piva led the attack with five kills as the Privateers scored the first four points and never trailed in the set.
The Privateers looked on their way to a 2-0 lead as they held a 17-11 advantage in the second set, but Neal Grace Berry led the Cowgirls' comeback in the set. She had four kills from that point. The Privateers held off McNeese's first attempt at set point, but Jordan Gamble converted on the second.
McNeese held off a late Privateer rally that cut the Cowgirls lead from 21-12 at one point to 24-22. The Cowgirls got one of their six total blocks to finish the third set when Corynne Hausler and Berry combined on a rejection to give McNeese a 2-1 lead.
New Orleans broke open a set that was tied at 16-16 behind two kills and a block each from
Ava Kennon and
Alessandra Meoni. The set ended when McNeese was whistled for being out of rotation on their next serve after they saved the first Privateer chance at set point.
The consecutive five-set matches are the first in the program since the Privateers had back-to-back five-set battles in September of 2021 against Southern and Louisiana Tech.
Kayla Wilson led the Cowgirls with 20 kills and D'Nari Mills finished with 19 kills and 12 digs. Hausler had 53 assists and Lauren Fuller led the team with 17 digs.
INSIDE THE BOX
Courtney Roundtree had 15 kills and four total blocks with a .519 attack percentage. Piva finished with 11 kills and Meoni added 10 kills.
Peyton Cole led the Privateers with 18 digs and
Defne Eciroglu finished with a new season-high 51 assists.
Vanae Sapp and
Akeir Scales each had eight kills.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday, Oct. 2. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
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