Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Wolf Pack volleyball team traveled to Xavier Saturday for matches against the Gold Nuggets and William Carey
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team hit the road Saturday for the first time this season, losing two matches to the Golden Nuggets and William Carey. The Wolf Pack dropped a straight-sets match to Xavier to open the day, then lost a five-set thriller to the Crusaders.
The Wolf Pack will play away once again next week, traveling to Mobile for a 1 p.m. non-conference contest on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Xavier 3, Loyola 0
The Wolf Pack suffered their first loss of the season after a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Xavier. Loyola previously swept the Gold Nuggets earlier this month in a matchup at The Den. The first set featured 13 ties and eight lead changes, as Loyola jumped up early with kills from Jordan Bernard and Emily Sheperis. Loyola led by more than four points at 14-10, but Xavier battled back with three straight points to tie the game. With the game tied at 25, Xavier used a service error and a kill to seal the win.
Loyola fell behind early in Set 2, trailing 7-3 and 11-6 before Loyola found some momentum to cut the score to 13-12. Xavier extended the lead once again on its way to an eight-point second set win.
Sheperis had two early kills in the third set to help Loyola jump out to a quick 3-0 lead, but Xavier, again, made it a tight game with five ties. Brittany Cooper had five straight kills at one point, but it wasn't enough to put Xavier away for good. The Gold Nuggets stayed within two points late, and they scored six of the final eight points to seal the match.
William Carey 3, Loyola 2
After dropping the first two sets of the match, the Wolf Pack roared back with two straight wins to force a fifth set. It all started with Loyola's most lopsided set-win of the season, defeating WCU 25-10 in Set 3. Bernard, Sheperis, Cooper and Jules Mokry all had kills in the beginning of the game, giving the Wolf Pack an early 7-3 lead. Gabriela Martinez started to get hot, tallying four kills in near-consecutive fashion to push the advantage to 18-7, then Loyola finished the set easily from there.
The fourth set was a lot closer than the third, as the set was tied 10 times before either team could get 16 points. Martinez had three kills early, then Mokry four kills in the middle of the set to help keep pace with WCU. The Crusaders led 22-18 late, but Mokry and Cooper combined to finish off five points to help Loyola win seven of the final eight points.
Neither team could grab a sustainable lead early in the fifth set, but William Carey eventually pushed ahead by four, 10-6. Kills by Mokry and Cooper, as well as a service ace from Casey Aucoin gave Loyola a chance, but the Crusaders were able to hold on for the win.
"We played eight tough sets today. Against Xavier, we really needed to clean up our attacking and minimize our errors. We are incredibly proud of our team for the fight they showed in our match against William Carey. We had some great performances from so many individuals. Jules Mokry and Gabriela Martinez were some big standouts for us in that match. They really found ways to put the ball away and score us points. Helene Masone also went on an incredible serving run in the third set. We're still excited about what we're seeing from this team and still have one more opportunity to compete this fall with our last match against Mobile next week, which is always a fun matchup."
Pack Facts
Gabriela Martinez tallied a career-best 14 kills in the second match of the day.
Brittany Cooper started the day with 10 kills against Xavier, which was good enough for a season-high, then she added 12 kills in the WCU match for a new season-high. She also produced 19 digs, another season-high.
Jules Mokry tallied 17 kills in the second match of the day, which is a career-high for the freshman. She recorded eight kills against Xavier to begin the day.
Gracie Bailey had her first double-double of the season with 19 assists and 13 digs against the Crusaders, both season-highs.
Kailyn O'Neal also had a double-double against WCU, her third of the season, recording a season-high 26 assists and 13 digs.
Helene Masone had a season-high 22 digs against the Crusaders.
Freshman Emily Sheperis had seven kills against Xavier and nine against WCU, and she's now had at least seven kills in every match this season.
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.
