Box Score Wolf Pack will look to right the ship against Johnson & Wales today at noon.
The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team opened up the 2016 season on Friday morning with a match against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (AZ) at the Johnson & Wales (Co.) Tournament in Denver, Colorado.
Representing the Sunshine State Conference (SSC), the Eagles from Embry-Riddle finished last season with a 12-18 overall record and 3-17 mark in conference play. Today's matchup was the first-ever meeting between these two programs.
Despite some encouraging performances by the new members of the team in the morning session, Loyola was unable to overcome a .057 hitting percentage to drop the match 3-0 (25-11,25-18,25-11) to the Eagles inside the Wildcat Center.
Allison Hartmann led Loyola with seven kills on Friday morning, while Malea Howie added six in her Wolf Pack debut. Last season's assist leader Maddie Huekels paced the Loyola attack with 12 helpers and Elizabeth Scioneaux was tops on the team with nine digs. Appearing in their first match wearing the maroon and gold, Tylar Beckham and Beatriz Agosto combined for seven kills in the loss.
Jalin Yoder led the Eagles with a game-high 12 kills, while Hannah Mercurio handed out 30 assists in the victory.
Despite holding a slim lead throughout a majority of the first set, Loyola dropped its first set of the season 25-21 after hitting at just a .139 clip. In her first collegiate set, Howie led the Wolf Pack with a set-high four kills on ten attacks (.300).
The second set proved yet another close contest with neither team able to build a lead bigger than five points. With the score knotted at 12-12, the Eagles manufactured a 7-2 run to jump out to the 19-14 advantage. Following two-straight Loyola points, Embry-Riddle shut the door with a 6-2 run to claim the second set 25-18. The hitting woes continued for the Wolf Pack in set two, with Loyola only managing a 0.77 compared to .219 by the Eagles.
Embry-Riddle took hold of the match in set three after running out to an 8-1 lead. The Eagles managed to maintain that cushion for the rest of the set to take the deciding set 25-11 and the match 3-0.
Loyola (0-1) returns to the court this afternoon against the host Johnson & Wales at noon.
