Box Score The Wolf Pack volleyball team took a break from Southern States Athletic Conference play Saturday, winning a crosstown matchup with Dillard
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team pushed its winning streak to six games Saturday, taking down the Dillard Bleu Devils in straight sets (25-19, 25-10, 25-15). The win moves the Wolf Pack to 12-6 overall and they remain 6-1 in SSAC play and tied in first place with Blue Mountain.
Loyola will play another Big Easy rival next week, taking on Xavier at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the XULA Convocation Center.
The opening game stayed close until Loyola pulled away at the end with a 7-0 run. Holding a slim 7-6 lead, Simone Tyson and Jordan Bernard had consecutive attacks, then a kill by Preslie Boswell gave the Pack an 11-7 lead. With Loyola up 12-9, though, Dillard won five straight points to go up 14-12. The Wolf Pack regained the lead thanks to four straight errors by Dillard, and the two teams traded points until Loyola tied it, 19-19. With Simone Moreau serving, Loyola won the next six points to take the set, as Moreau recorded three aces during that stretch.
The Wolf Pack carried the momentum into the second set, dominating Dillard to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Emily Sheperis and Boswell each had attacks in the early going of the set, giving Loyola a 6-1 lead. Tyson found the floor four times with attacks in a short span, extending the Wolf Pack advantage to 14-4. Another Tyson kill and back-to-back service aces by Moreau - giving her five in the match by that point - made it a 21-7 game, then Brittany Cooper helped finish the win with an ace.
Loyola wrapped things up with a 25-15 third-set win, leading for most of the final game. Bernard got a couple of early kills, then Alicia Simmons and Sheperis each had attacks to give the Wolf Pack an 8-4 lead. Gabriela Martinez got in on the action, too, and Moreau served her sixth and final ace to extend the score to 14-8. Cooper registered an ace later in the set, 18-11, and a couple of Tyson kills put Loyola in position for the sweep.
"We're very proud of the team's solid performance this evening. They continue to show their skill, mental focus, and trust in themselves and each other. Simone Tyson and Preslie Boswell came up extremely effective on offense. Simone Moreau was key at the service line for us, helping us close out a tight first set. We're excited to get into this second half of our season, but we know it'll take even more work and more mental focus. Our goal is to continue to focus on the details and be open to evolving over the next few months."
Pack Facts
Saturday's win marks six in a row for the Wolf Pack, the longest winning streak of head coach Jesse Zabal's time at Loyola. It's also the team's sixth straight-sets win of the season.
Loyola has now won eight of its last nine matches with the Bleu Devils.
The team's .308 attack percentage was the third time this season the team has had a mark better than .300 this season. Preslie Boswell (.625) and Simone Tyson (.579) put up some impressive numbers in that category as well.
Tyson once again led the Pack in kills, recording 12 in Saturday's match, her 10th double-digit kill match this season. The sophomore also led Loyola with six digs.
Kailyn O'Neal led the team in assists with 15, which was the seventh game in a row with at least that many in a match.
Simone Moreau's six aces was easily the best for her young career, and the freshman now has 21 this season.
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