NEW ORLEANS, La. -  Faulkner volleyball clinched its first season-opening victory since 2011 with a 3-0 decision against Southern University at New Orleans here on Saturday. The Lady Eagles thwarted countless Knight assaults to secure the match 25-23, 25-19, 25-22.

Junior Sarah Dubberley led the Faulkner offense with 14 kills while hitting .480 on the night. The outside hitter also had eight digs and a pair of service aces.

Right side Sarah Ford was also a crucial weapon in the Lady Eagle attack. The junior hammered eight kills hitting .470.

Senior middle Brittnay Renfroe hit .294 with seven kills and had two blocks.

Morgan Wilson and KK Lo split time feeding the offense and had 23 and 11 assists while adding eight and seven digs respectively.

Senior libero Lindsey Ortner led the defense with 11 digs.

"I'm proud of the way our girls fought," said head coach Tori Bartels after the match. "Hopping right off the bus and heading in to play a solid team can be difficult, especially when you're already fighting the nerves that come with the first event of the season. We struggled in a few places, but we never let them get too far ahead and wreck us mentally and that was key. We're going to enjoy the victory for sure, but we've got an up-hill battle tomorrow and we need to start shifting our attention in that direction."

Faulkner (1-0) will take on Xavier at 2 p.m. here on Saturday. The Gold Nuggets were 26-8 last season and 12-0 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, which includes SUNO. Xavier earned a bid to the opening round of the NAIA national tournament where it fell in five sets to Southern States Athletic Conference champion Spring Hill.