Box Score The win marks the first time this season Loyola has won three matches in a row
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack continued their winning ways Wednesday with a straight-sets win (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) over crosstown rival Dillard at the University Sports Complex.
The win moves Loyola back to .500 overall with a 10-10 mark. Although Wednesday's match wasn't a conference contest, the Wolf Pack enter the weekend with a 4-1 record in the Southern States Athletic Conference.
The Wolf Pack used a solid start and finish to the opening game to take a 1-0 match lead. They began the first set by scoring the first five points, then pushing the lead to 8-3 before Dillard battled back to bring it to a one-point game midway through the set. Leading 13-12, Loyola scored 12 of the final 18 points to close out the Lady Bleu Devils, 25-18.
The second set featured a closer start to the set, and when Loyola tried to get separation, Dillard wouldn't go down quietly. The two teams tied a couple of times before Dillard grabbed its first lead of the match at 20-19. Then after a Loyola timeout when it trailed 23-20, the Wolf Pack rattled off five straight points to win the second set 25-23.
The start of the third set was much slower for Loyola, falling behind 6-3 early. The Wolf Pack, however, stayed within striking distance and took the lead for good at 18-17. From there, they cruised to the 25-19 set win to sweep the match.
Loyola continues it's homestand with back-to-back conference matches Friday and Saturday in The Den. First, the Wolf Pack welcomes Bethel for a 6 p.m. contest Friday before Blue Mountain College comes to town on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"Tonight was a great win for us. We had steady and effective attacking from Brittany Cooper, Casey Aucoin and Champagne Cunningham. Dillard does a great job of picking up some tough digs, so overall our girls were great about being persistent on offense and working through a tough defense.
"Now, we turn our focus to the weekend. We have two very important conference matches on Friday and Saturday and will work to tune up some things Thursday at practice. We appreciate the great home crowd tonight and we hope they make it back to The Den on Friday and Saturday!"
Pack Facts
Both Gracie Bailey and Sunni Blanchard hit double-figures in assists against Dillard, and that marks the 16th game this season the two have accomplished that feat.
Brittany Cooper's 10 kills in the match were far from her career-high, but she led the team in kills for the 13th time this season.
Champagne Cunningham continued her stellar play Wednesday with seven more kills and a .333 attack percentage. She's now had five or more kills in eight straight matches.
Wednesday's straight-sets win over Dillard marked the second sweep in a row for the Wolf Pack, and they've now won nine sets in a row after dropping the opening game to MIddle Georgia College last Friday. The last time Loyola won nine straight sets was September 2017 when it won 10 straight over a four-match span.
After entering the Loyola top 10 in career kills over the weekend, Malea Howie passed Kailey Tuthill for 10th in career attacks tonight, adding 26 attempts for a total of 3245 for her career.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
