Box Score The Pack claim sets one and three, but fall in the second, fourth and tie-breaker by three points or less in a tightly contested match
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Continuing their difficult 2018 schedule and playing in their 19th road match in 22 games, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team came out on the wrong end up a close match with William Carey Friday night 3-2.
After the first set opened up at five-all, the Wolf Pack (11-11, 2-5) would jump out and take a lead as large as 11, eventually claiming a 25-16 win. In set two however, William Carey (10-11, 5-3) bounced back and took a 16-8 lead. While Loyola would fight back, making it a one-point set at 21-20, the home team held on to even the match at one set apiece.
Set three was similar to the first, as the Pack held a lead throughout the entire set before winning 25-18. In the fourth, each team held a lead as the two fought it out, with the score reaching 18-18 before the home team took a slim victory 25-22 to force a tie-breaker. Loyola would climb back after falling into a 5-0 hole and bring it within two, but William Carey would hold on and take the extra set 15-13.
The Pack will remain on the road tomorrow and travel to Montgomery, Ala., where they will face Faulkner at 2 p.m.
"Extremely tough loss for us tonight. Tylar Beckham and Champagne Cunningham had a fantastic night out of the middle, but we struggled to pass well enough towards the end of the match to get them the ball. We had some miscues with our game plan at very critical moments during the match. Overall, we played better than we have in the past few weeks and we'll take that into another tough conference match tomorrow afternoon."
Pack Facts
Tylar Beckham tied her career-best with 10 total blocks today, the second time she's hit that mark this season, and fourth in her career.
Sunni Blanchard got her fifth double-double of the season on 25 assists and 14 digs.
Maddie Huekels registered her 169th career service ace tonight, which ranks 10th in program history.
The senior now ranks ninth in career matches played at Loyola, reaching 132 tonight.
You can keep up with the Pack this season by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
