Box Score Beckham leads all players with 11 kills and two solo blocks in the 3-0 non-conference victory.
Coming off a two-match road trip, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned home on Sunday afternoon to welcome Talladega College to The Den for a non-conference contest.
Entering Sunday's matchup at 5-7 overall, the Wolf Pack looked to snap a four-match losing streak dating back to September 10. Conversely, the Tornadoes came to New Orleans at 2-6 on the year and having lost its last two contests.
It was a total team effort for Loyola in Sunday's battle as the home team would use 19 individuals throughout the match to complete the 3-0 (25-12,25-21,25-18) sweep of Talladega and move the Wolf Pack to 6-7 overall.
Loyola started the opening set down 0-2 before kills by Allison Hartmann (JR/Slidell, La.), Beatriz Agosto (SO/Miami, Fla.) and Malea Howie (SO/Greenwood, Ind.) put the home team up 4-2. The set would tie five times throughout its duration until a 5-0 Wolf Pack run gave Loyola the 15-10 cushion. Loyola held the Tornadoes to just two more total points for the remainder of the set and a kill by Agosto off an assist by Sunni Blanchard (SO/Pierre Part, La.) would seal the opening set for the Wolf Pack, 25-12.
Set two was a much closer affair than the opener as the scoreboard read 20-20 late in the frame. Loyola used two Talladega errors paired with a kill by Symone Killebrew (FR/Harvey, La.) to grab the 23-20 advantage late. A kill by the Tornadoes' Rossiel Lobaton-Silva brought the score to 23-21 before a kill by Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.) and another Talladega error handed the Wolf Pack the 25-21 victory.
The third set saw Loyola jump out to a ten-point lead at 23-13. Down ten, Talladega orchestrated a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to 24-18 late in the frame. Facing match point, Sunni Blanchard connected with Natavia Mitchell (JR/Austin, Texas) for a kill to give Loyola the set win 24-18 and the sweep.
Beckham led all players with 11 kills (.588%) and two solo blocks while Hartmann chipped in 10 kills on 23 attempts. Maddie Huekels (JR/Dyer, Ind.) paced the Wolf Pack offense with 18 assists and Helene Masone (FR/Destin, Fla.) spearheaded the defense with 10 digs in the win.
Talladega's Bethany Holland's 17 assists were a match high and Rossiel Lobaton-Silva led the Tornadoes offense with six kills off the bench.
Loyola will welcome Brewton-Parker to The Den on Friday, Sept. 22, for a SSAC matchup set to start at 6:00 p.m.
