Senior outside hitter and right side Parrie Hartley serving up.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar

Lady Lions lost against New Orleans Privateers in a five set thriller at the University Center. Despite showing great resilience after dropping two sets early in the game, the Lady Lions ended up on the losing side in a tight affair. This extends their losing streak to four games.

The Lady Lions were under immense pressure after the visiting team ran away with the first two sets 25-18 and 25-19. However, the Lady Lions did not lose hope.

“Coach told us that UNO had a habit to lose after leading first two sets,” said senior outside hitter Madi Odom, who registered 26 digs in the game, the highest for Lady Lions. “We had to come back and fight and that’s what we did.”

After dealing with the early blow, the Lady Lions managed to hang on and claw back to tie the game at two sets a piece with inspiring performances from redshirt freshman setter Elyssa Purcell and freshman outside hitter Chloee Holden.

Purcell had an impressive game with 15 kills, 19 assists and 16 digs. This is her fifth triple double of the season. Holden also played well recording 12 kills for the game, with the game tying kill being the most significant.

The final set, just like the whole match was intense. This game deciding set hung in the balance at 11-11. It was not the day for the Lady Lions as the game and match swung on the side of the visiting team.     

The game ended 25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 26-28, 15-13 in favor of New Orleans.

In this game, senior middle blocker and outside hitter Landry Bullock surpassed the landmark of 800 kills in her career. She had 10 kills for the game, coming behind Purcell and Holden in the kills category.

The game saw great improvement in the team’s performance in kills, attacks attempted, assists and digs category in comparison with the previous game. The number of kills increased from 29 to 61. The attacks attempted had a substantial increase to 200 attempts from 72 attempts in the previous game.

Lady Lions impressive defensive display was clearly seen as they had 92 digs for the game, a vast improvement from previous 29.   

“We worked on pushing set out,” said Bullock. “We practiced blocks, hitting different angles and different combinations. We worked on everything.”

Even though the game saw a refined performance from the volleyball team, a high number of errors ultimately cost them the match. The Lions had 32 errors in the game and they gave credit to the opposition for creating multiple errors.  

“They had a pretty solid block,” said Odom. “I was hitting to them instead of keeping them in play.”

The volleyball team now has an overall 2-15 record and 1-3 Southland Conference record for the year. However the team still has a positive attitude going into future games.

“We just got to realize conference is not over,” said Bullock. “We can work hard and come back. There is still opportunities and we must have a positive outlook.”

The Lady Lions will host Nicholls State University in their next game on Tuesday, Oct.11 for the annual Dig Pink match. The team will be playing to show their support for breast cancer awareness.   

Hartley recorded 10 digs in the five-set decision lost to UNO.
The Lion's Roar/Nikisun Shrestha