Box Score The Loyola Wolf Pack won their ninth straight Southern States Athletic Conference match Saturday, improving their record to 10-1 in the league
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack completed their weekend sweep of the Southern States Athletic Conference teams from Georgia Saturday, beating the Middle Georgia Knights in straight sets (25-12, 25-6, 25-9). It was Loyola's second straight three-set win, and it didn't allow MGA nor Brewton-Parker to score more than 15 points in any of the six sets.
The Wolf Pack's record moves to 16-7 overall and 10-1 in the SSAC thanks to the win, and they remain tied in first place with Blue Mountain College. Loyola will hit the road Tuesday for a non-conference matchup with Spring Hill, starting that match at 6 p.m. in Mobile.
Dallis Brown's serving led to Loyola making a huge run to start the match with a 12-1 lead, as the junior nearly matched her output from Friday night with three quick aces during that stretch. Preslie Boswell and Jordan Bernard combined to have five kills, too, but Middle Georgia was able to win a couple of points to make it a game, 15-9. Simone Tyson got in on the attacking action, pushing the score to 20-9, then another kill by the sophomore made it 22-11. A kill by Boswell and two more from Tyson gave the Wolf Pack a 25-12 first-set win.
Boswell picked up right where she left off with three early kills in the second set to give Loyola a 6-2 lead. Emily Sheperis added consecutive attacks, pushing the score to 9-4, then back-to-back aces by Gracie Bailey made it a 13-4 Wolf Pack lead. Alicia Simmons continued the domination, ballooning the score to 17-5, and two attacks by Tyson and another ace for Bailey made it a 23-5 lead. Loyola ended up winning 17 of the last 18 points to easily take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Another quick set for Loyola ended the match after three games, finishing the day with a 25-9 win. Tyson and Boswell notched two kills each to help the Pack start 5-1, and an attack by Simmons made it a 10-6 game. With Cooper serving, Loyola went on a 10-0 run to grab control of the game, 20-6, using five aces in the process. From there, the Wolf Pack cruised to win the match.
Pack Facts
Saturday marked Loyola's 10th straight win over Middle Georgia State. The last loss to the Knights came in 2017.
Loyola's 25-6 second-set win was the most lopsided game win since Sept. 8, 2018, when the Wolf Pack beat Rust 25-3 in the first set of that straight-sets win.
Loyola's 15 service aces Saturday is a new season-high for a three-set match.
Brittany Cooper earned a new career-high from the service line, recording six aces in Saturday's match.
A day after Dallis Brown reached a new career-high with four aces, she tied that mark Saturday against MGA.
Simone Tyson had a team-high 13 kills on a .579 hitting percentage, a number that matched her most efficient attacking performance of the season, Oct. 9 vs. Dillard.
As a team, Loyola hit .373, their highest percentage of conference play and best hitting performance since Aug. 21 vs. Pikeville (.486).
Two Wolf Pack teammates reached double-digit digs: Simone Moreau with 14 and Brittany Cooper with 13.
Kailyn O'Neal led the Pack with 16 assists while Gracie Bailey had 12. Rebecca LaCour also contributed four assists in the third set.
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.
