NEW ORLEANS, La. – Saturday marked two firsts for the Lamar University volleyball squad. It was the first time all season it played in a four-set match, but more importantly it was the first win for the Cardinals, who went on the road to defeat New Orleans 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19) at the Health and Performance Center in Southland Conference action.
 
Just like Thursday's match for LU (1-13, 1-1 Southland Conference) against Southeastern Louisiana, the first set was a hard-nosed battle in which Big Red couldn't come away with. UNO (3-12, 0-2) was able to build a five-point lead by the time it notched its 14^th-point (14-9). The Cardinals dug in and held the Privateers from getting back-to-back points until it was tied at 24-24, when UNO earned a kill from Brianna Vega and block from Jordan Yauch and Rondolyn Bryant.
 
The second set was a neck-and-neck game that saw 14 ties and eight lead changes – three came after the teams were tied at 15-15. Tied at 20, UNO's Sarah Thomas had a service error to give the Cards a 21-20 lead, but a kill from Blessing Dunn tied it at 21-21 again.
 
Big Red took over the set from there and got three-straight kills form Tomar Thomas, Murielle Hlavac and Haley Morton. The Privateers called a timeout and cut it to 24-21 with a kill from Vega, but Thomas ended it with another kill to tie the match with a set apiece.
 
Lamar finished the set – and every set – with 15 kills. In the second set, it finished with .650 hitting percentage, which was only second to its .680 mark in the third set.
 
The Cardinals jumped up 6-1 early in the third set and UNO was able to cut it to a one-point advantage, 14-13, but that was the closest UNO it could get.
 
The fourth set was more of the same. Both teams sat at three when Big Red went on a 7-1 run to make it 10-3. Three-straight Privateer errors put LU up 6-3, and two kills from Hlavac another from Nicole Parish made it 9-3 before a block from Hlavac and Ivette Dim finished off  the run. New Orleans did cut it to a three-point lead a couple of times, but could not get closer.
 
Hlavac was only second to Chelsea Grant in total kills for Lamar.  She had 15 with a .317 attack percentage, just one behind Grants total with a .406 attack mark. Dim joined in the double-figure party with 11 kills to put three Cardinals in double-figures for the first time this season.
 
Carlyn Stella continued her hot hand on defense with a team-high 14 digs, only one ahead of libero Lauren Stahlman's 13. Morton notched a season-high 46 assists in the contest, 11 better than the next-best count (37). Dannisha House was big at the net after she accounted for six blocks, which gives her 15 for the week. She led the way for LU's 8.5 total blocks.
 
As a team, LU earned 72.5 points, 18.1 a set, which is where head coach Alan Edwards would like his team. It had 60 total kills in the match with just 15 errors and a season-best .317 attack percentage. The Cardinals held New Orleans to a .232 attack mark and forced it into 25 attack errors.
 
Next up for the Cardinals will be Houston Baptist on Saturday, which is the final match of the season-opening, 15-match road swing. The first match at McDonald Gym for LU is against Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6.