NEW ORLEANS – The LSU New Orleans Privateers took a second set that went extra rallies and pushed the UTRGV Vaqueros deep into sets three and four but fell on the short end of a 3-1 (25-15, 26-28, 25-20, 25-20) decision on Saturday at the Human Performance Center.
The Privateers and Vaqueros were locked in a fierce battle in set four as the score was tied at 19-19 by the road side after a Soukeyna Diouf kill. From there, the Vaqueros went on a 6-1 run to close out the match.
UTRGV capitalized off three Privateer attack errors and also had three kills from Martina Franco who led the offense with 23 kills on the day. She added 13 digs as well.
After the first 11 points of the opening set, the Vaqueros forged ahead through a run of nine straight points to take a 14-6 advantage in the opening set. The Privateers did not get closer than within eight points for the remainder of the set.
The Privateers took control early in the second set and led by as many as six points at one juncture of the set when they were up 13-7. UTRGV rallied back to take the lead near the technical timeout and the Privateers were behind for most of the remainder of the set.
Trailing 24-22, the Privateers staved off two UTRGV looks at set point after a kill by
Olivia Bartrina and a tandem block from
Nyakuak Lual and
Mariana Franco. In extra rallies, the Privateers had two looks at set point denied before they converted on the third time of asking after a kill by
Armie Hall.
In set three, the Privateers got out to an 11-9 advantage, but UTRGV responded with a four-point spurt of their own to jump ahead in a critical third set. The Vaqueros never trailed from that point for the remainder of the set.
Julianna Bryant had 17 kills and eight total blocks. Diouf finished with nine kills and Lana Rnjak had 55 assists. Celianiz Cabranes had a team-high 15 digs. UTRGV had 12 blocks as a team.
INSIDE THE BOX
Ava Frerman led the offense with a career-high 14 kills. Hall finished with 13 kills and two blocks.
Defne Eciroglu had 17 assists and 11 digs. Franco finished with a team-high 22 assists.
Vladana Ristic had 12 digs and
Nyakuak Lual finished with five total blocks.
NEXT UP
The Privateers head to Nicholls on Thursday, Oct. 29.
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ABOUT LSU NEW ORLEANS
In July of 2026 the University of New Orleans rejoined the LSU system and rebranded to "LSU New Orleans" bringing together two powerful brands - the purple and gold of LSU with the unbreakable spirit of New Orleans. The transition marks a return to the LSU family for the University - a place it called home from 1958-2011. Athletic teams will remain the Privateers and continue to compete in the Southland Conference.
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