The Loyola University New Orleans Volleyball team celebrated Senior Night on Thursday evening by welcoming cross-town rival Xavier University (La.) to The Den for a nonconference match. Down 2-0, the Wolf Pack battled back to tie the score at 2-2, before eventually falling to the Gold Nuggets 15-12 in the fifth set to give the visitors a 3-2(21-25,25-27,25-22,25-20,12-15) victory.
Loyola drops to 16-17 overall with the loss, while Xavier improves to 14-7 following the victory.
The Wolf Pack jumped out to an early 10-2 lead to start set one. Xavier quickly recovered and used a 9-3 run to knot the set at 20-20. The Gold Nuggets ended the set on a 5-1 run to earn the 25-21 victory and go up 1-0 in the match.
Down 12-7 in the second set, Xavier strung together five-straight points to tie the set at 12-12. Loyola answered with a 6-1 run to take the 18-13 advantage and force a Gold Nuggets timeout. Back-to-back errors by the visiting team brought the Wolf Pack just one point away from victory at 24-19. Undaunted, Xavier scored the next five points to knot the set at 24-24. The Gold Nuggets ended the set on a 3-1 run to claim victory 27-25.
The third set saw the teams battle to five ties early on. With the score tied up at 15-15, Loyola used a kill from Fr. OH Mycah Boland (Stockbridge, Ga./Heritage) and a Xavier error to go up 17-15. The Wolf Pack maintained the lead for the remainder of the set and a kill by Jr. OH Wren Oversech (Austin, Texas/Austin) gave Loyola the 25-22 victory to bring the match score to 2-1.
The Wolf Pack started the fourth set down three but used a 6-1 run to go up 16-10. Up 22-20, Loyola put up three-straight points, thanks to two kills by Sr. OH Eva Allen (Oakland, Calif./Head-Royce) and an Xavier error, to take the set 25-20 and knot the match.
The Gold Nuggets took control of the fifth set early and never looked back. The visitors ended set five on a 6-3 run to claim the 15-12 victory and earn the 3-2 win.
Allen recorded a double-double to lead the Wolf Pack, collecting a team-high 19 kills to go along with 15 digs. Fr. S Maddie Huekels (Dyer, Ind./Marian Catholic) dished out a career-high 42 assists and Fr. MBAllison Hartmann (Slidell, La./Pope John Paul II) added 12 kills. Sr. LBreanna Stevenson (Desoto, Texas/Desoto) had a game-high three service aces to go along with 10 digs and Jr. L Katie Phillipi (Metairie, La./Haynes) added 15 digs in the loss.
Loyola returns to action on Friday, Nov. 6, at Dalton State with first serve set for 7:00 p.m.
