Box Score Wolf Pack finishes with an 18-19 record overall after going 3-1 in the postseason. Obioha earns a spot on All-Tournament team.
After sweeping pool play at the 2017 SSAC Volleyball championship in Montgomery, Ala., the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team continued tournament play in the semifinal round on Saturday morning with a match against Faulkner.
Despite a full team effort from Loyola in a tight five-set match, the Eagles pulled out a close 3-2 win as Jesse Zabal's first season as head coach of the Wolf Pack came to a close. The season was an improvement from the last as Loyola finished with an 18-19 record, including a 3-1 record in postseason play.
The first set was a close one, with neither team holding more than a four-point lead until the Wolf Pack went on a 9-2 run in the middle of the frame, eventually taking it by a score of 25-23.
The second set saw Faulkner even the score at one set apiece after the Eagles took the set 25-19 after holding the Wolf Pack to just a .057 hitting percentage.
But the Wolf Pack took the lead in the match once again after a tight third set finished 25-22 in favor of Loyola.
The fourth set was the most competitive of the match, featuring 16 ties and eight lead changes. Loyola held the largest lead of the set when the score was 15-11, but Faulkner came back to quickly tie the set at 16-all. Eventually Loyola would have a match point opportunity at 25-24, but the Eagles scored three straight points to take the lead and the set, tying the match at 2-2.
In the final set, Faulkner gained the lead early and never gave it up, holding the Wolf Pack to a .000 hitting percentage in the final frame en route to clinching the match win.
Adelia Obioha was selected to the All-Tournament team for her performance for the 3-1 Wolf Pack. She finished the tournament with a total of 38 kills and 26 blocks, including an 11-kill, 13-block performance in the 3-1 victory against No. 2-seeded William Carey.
Four Wolf Pack players logged a double-digit number of kills, including Obioha with a team-high 14 on a .281 percentage. Malea Howie wasn't far behind her with 13 kills, while Beatriz Agosto recorded 11 kills, and Tylar Beckham had 10. Beckham also had nine blocks on the day to lead the team. Howie was second on the team with five blocks, while Obioha added four. Allison Hartmann had nine kills on the day to go along with her three blocks. In her final match for the Wolf Pack, Lindsay Ulfig contributed seven blocks, as well as one block and one assist.
Maddie Huekels and Sunni Blanchard both had at least 25 assists for the match, 27 for Huekels and 25 for Blanchard. Huekels and Blanchard both finished with double-doubles, with Huekels adding 12 digs and Blanchard with 10. Howie also ended up with a double-double, adding 10 digs to her 13 kills. Two other Loyola players also had double figures in digs, including Helene Masone with 25, Kaitlynn Watson with 21.
