No. 4 McNeese State defeats No. 5 New Orleans, 3-1
Southland Conference
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CONWAY, Ark. – No. 4 McNeese State defeated No. 5 New Orleans 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15) Friday on the second match of the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament on the campus of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark.
The first set had an intense start as each team held their ground. With a slight 14-12 lead the Privateer added the cushion of a 4-2 run before McNeese answered with a 6-2 run to tie the set, 20-20. Senior setter Kelly Graham commanded the Cowgirl attack with 11 assists. McNeese took control the rest of the set to win 25-22 on an attack error by Privateer freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice.
McNeese continued its momentum into the second set as the Cowgirls took a 4-1 lead. That momentum was short lived. The Privateers, led by Grice, sophomore middle hitter Rondolyn Bryant and freshman outside hitter Dunn Blessing fought back to tie the game 8-8 then refused to fall behind. Neither team would earn more than a single point advantage until the end of the set when another service error gave the Cowgirls a 24-22 lead. McNeese won the second set 25-23 as senior middle blocker Amber Fryer picked up six kills.
The third set was an entirely different story. The Cowgirls and Privateers attacked and counter-attacked for several impressive rallies including a New Orleans 8-3 run to take the lead 18-17. The Privateers held McNeese’s hitting percentage to .206 allowing them to take the set 25-23.
The final set belonged to the Cowgirls as they held the Privateers to a .000 hitting percentage to win 25-15. Senior outside hitter Malina Sanchez and Amber Fryer led the Cowgirls attack throughout the match with 17 and 14 kills, respectively. Junior Libero Bridget Justis led the defense with 29 digs.
The Cowgirls will advance to the Southland Volleyball Tournament semifinals Saturday, Nov. 21 at noon and will take on the No. 1 seed A&M-Corpus Christi.
The first two rounds of the tournament will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital Network, including
Southland.org/watch and the league’s mobile and tablet apps. The championship round will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, available via
WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
McNeese State Head Coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald
On progression of the match
“It was a stressful match and I think it was pretty apparent that these are two programs who don’t make the tournament often, historically. All but four of my players, this is their first time at the tournament. There was a lot of uncharacteristic service errors. You got to play through it, and I’m happy we prevailed. I think we got a lot of the nervousness out.
On advancing to face No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
“We’re playing a great Corpus Christi team. We’re not supposed to win, but my players think there’s nothing we can’t do. In a lot of ways I think today’s match may have been the hardest because there was pressure on us with being the higher seed. I think we’re going to play a lot looser and have fun tomorrow.”
McNeese State Senior Outside Hitter Malina Sanchez
On progression of the match
“We were up, then they were up, then we were up. It was back-and-forth and we really had to come out and play our best game. They’re a great team and they definitely have some great players that contribute to the team.”
On huddle talk
“Coach Fitzgerald is very chill. She told us we had it and we were able to make adjustments and the match went on.
New Orleans Head Coach Millicent Van Norden
On loss
“Every time we were able to fix one area we needed to make adjustments on, it felt like another area fell short. I thought the unforced service errors came back to bite us in a match that was so close. Offensively, we were almost inefficient for the first couple of sets which was pretty frustrating because running inside out is how we qualified for the tournament.”
On McNeese
“I think the girls were resilient. They never gave up on the play no matter what the situation was. They still believed they could win. We just weren’t able to do a few minor things as well as we should have today. My hat’s off to McNeese. I commend them for where they’ve come from last year and where they’re going.”
On season’s improvement
“It’s definitely a step forward in the right direction. I told the seniors I couldn’t be more proud of them for the commitment they made to us on the court and off the court. We spent so much time in the offseason really trying to redefine what our team culture was going to be before our young players got here and they all did an exceptional job at that. I think they really laid the foundation for where this program can go in the future and I’m really looking forward to next season.”