Box Score The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team moved their league record to 11-1 with a win over Talladega College Friday, and that sets up a huge match with Blue Mountain College Saturday at Devlin Fieldhouse
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack won their 10th straight Southern States Athletic Conference match Friday, defeating Talladega College in straight-sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) at the University of New Orleans' Human Performance Center. The win moves the Wolf Pack to 17-8 overall and 11-1 in the SSAC, and they're now all alone in the first place after Blue Mountain lost to William Carey Friday.
Friday's win sets up a huge matchup for Loyola Saturday afternoon, as Blue Mountain comes to New Orleans one game behind Pack. Loyola's lone conference loss was to the Lady Toppers in September, and Loyola can win the SSAC regular-season title with a win. First serve Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Tulane's Devlin Fieldhouse.
Preslie Boswell and Jordan Bernard got things started with a couple of kills in the opening game, but Talladega scored four straight to take a 5-3 lead. Simone Tyson and Alicia Simmons each got kills to keep Loyola within a point, and an assist block by Gabriela Martinez and Boswell tied the set 9-9. With Simone Moreau serving, the Wolf Pack won nine straight, as the freshman libero served up four aces, including three straight, to help the Pack take an 18-11 advantage. Boswell and Bernard each had attacks down the straight, and an ace by Brittany Cooper sealed the opening-game win.
Talladega started the second set with a 2-0 lead, but the Wolf Pack got a quick run to take the lead in the game. Bernard and Tyson each had consecutive attacks, then aces by Emily Sheperis and Cooper put the Pack up 8-4. Tyson, once again, got back-to-back attacks and Boswell and Bernard gave Loyola a 14-8 lead, but the Lady Tornadoes made a run to tie the set 15-15. From there, though, the Wolf Pack scored seven of the next eight points thanks to three straight kills by Tyson to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Boswell notched two straight kills and Gracie Bailey added back-to-back aces to start the third set, and a couple of kills by Tyson pushed the score 11-9 in Loyola's favor. Talladega, however, didn't go down quietly, winning six of the next seven points to take a 16-14 lead on the Pack. Loyola didn't stay down long, though, using five Talladega errors, four kills and two aces to close out the match with a 25-20 third-set win.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal
"Tonight was an important win in a lot of ways. We wanted to start the weekend off strong and we also wanted to get this year's 11th conference win. And we did it. Despite some lulls in our play, this team continues to prove that they won't back down. They will figure out a way to win. Simone Tyson, Preslie, and Alicia all has strong attacking nights for us. Tyson and Moreau both made some fantastic digs to keep us alive in rallies. We also had a strong serving game, earning aces from most of our servers. Tomorrow's a big day that we're looking forward to. But tonight we'll celebrate earning the most conference wins since joining the conference."
Pack Facts
Loyola's 11 wins are the most for the program since joining the SSAC.
Loyola racked up 14 service aces as a team Friday, marking the ninth game this season in double figures.
Freshman libero Simone Moreau had five of those aces, and that's the fifth game this season with at least three aces.
Moreau also had 12 digs, which was the sixth time this season in double figures for a three-set match.
Simone Tyson tallied her team-high ninth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 14 digs. Both of those led the team as well.
Jordan Bernard tied her season-high with 10 kills against Talladega.
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.
