Box Score Huekels notches a double-double (19 assists and 14 digs) to help the Wolf Pack kick off the season with a win.
The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team and new head coach Jesse Zabal made the short trip down Gentilly on Friday afternoon to kick off the 2017 season at day one of the Dillard University Volleyball Classic inside The Battlefield.
Despite some initial troubles, the Wolf Pack were able to give coach Zabal her first victory as a head coach thanks to a 3-1 victory over SUNO to start the day.
Match One: Loyola 3 – SUNO 1
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm in set one and the score staggered to 5-5 to begin the opening set. With the score knotted at 5's, SUNO managed to string together a 6-0 spurt to take the first significant lead of the match at 11-5. Thanks to back-to-back kills from Allison Hartmann (JR/Slidell, La.) and Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.), the Wolf Pack were able to trim the lead down to three (17-14) before SUNO shut the door with an 8-1 run to close out the set and give the Knights the 1-0 advantage.
Despite the lopsided loss to start the match, Loyola came out renewed and focused in set two. Powered by kills from Hartmann, Maddie Huekels (JR/Dyer, Ind.), Beckham and Beatiriz Agosto, the Wolf Pack raced out to the hefty 12-3 advantage to start the second set. Loyola remained in the driver seat for the remainder of the set and used a monstrous block by Agosto to seal the 25-10 victory and knot the match at 1-1.
Set three was a back-and-forth affair with Loyola only managing to muster a one-point advantage (8-7) early on. The Wolf Pack managed to right the ship over the next few minutes and with the score 15-10, Loyola closed out set three on a 10-6 run to claim it 25-16 heading to the fourth.
With victory in its site, the Wolf Pack jumped out to a sizeable 7-2 lead to begin set four. Despite some solid all-around efforts by Loyola, SUNO was able to stick around down the stretch and force two late ties. With the score knotted at 23-23, Sunni Blanchard (SO/Pierre Part, La.) found Huekels for a kill before connecting with Agosto to give the Wolf Pack the 25-23 set win and the 3-1 victory to start the season.
