Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Closing out the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Volleyball Classic, the Wolf Pack split their Saturday matches, with the win coming over No. 20 Keiser
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Earning a victory over an NAIA Top 25-ranked opponent for the second day in a row, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team closed out the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Volleyball Classic Saturday morning.
The Wolf Pack suffered their second loss of the season against St. Thomas University, 3-1, in the first match of the day, but the team bounced back for a 3-1 victory against the tournament hosts, No. 20 Keiser. Overall, the team returns to New Orleans with a 2-2 record after the opening weekend.
Next up, Loyola will travel to Bowling Green, Ky. for the Mid-South Confererence's Vette City Classic. The first match is scheduled for August 20 against Tennessee Southern. Afterwards, they'll face Shawnee State (Ohio), Georgetown College (Ky.) and Pikeville (Ky.).
St. Thomas 3, Loyola 1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18)
Loyola was most efficient in the first set, with a hitting percentage of .276, but it wasn't enough to stop the St. Thomas attack which hit .481. The Wolf Pack did much better defensively in the second set, holding the Bobcats to .176. Loyola trailed for a majority of the second period, but seized the lead late, at 17-16, and held on to tie the match at 1-1.
Set 3 could have gone either way, as neither team led by more than four points throughout. The score read 23-23 after the Pack tallied four-straight points to tie it, but they lost the next two points on serves as St. Thomas went up 2-1. The final period also went back-and-forth for the majority of the frame. After the game was tied at 18-18, however, St. Thomas scored every point to close out the win.
Loyola 3, Keiser 1 (25-20, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21)
The teams played evenly to start, with Loyola finding themselves down 16-15 at one point. After that, however, the Wolf Pack wrapped up the set with a 10-4 scoring run. The second set followed a similar pattern, with neither team able to build a big advantage until late. With the score tied at 17-17, Loyola once again put together a big run, 8-2, to win the frame after their best team hitting percentage of the tournament, .371.
The No. 20 Seahawks wouldn't let this be a sweep, however, taking Set 3 to make it 2-1.
The Wolf Pack responded by jumping out to a huge lead in the final period, building their advantage to as many as nine points at 19-10. Keiser came back strong to tie it at 20-20, but Loyola was able to secure the match victory after out-scoring the home team 5-1 and winning the set 25-21.
"Today was another really strong day for the Pack. We had a quick turnaround from last night's game, and they fought it out against St. Thomas. Our serve receive wasn't strong to start, which made it tough for our setters to put our hitters in good positions to score. Against Keiser, we worked hard to create the best matchups for our hitters & blockers, but Keiser also made some changes that created a tough road for us in the third set. We talked about owning the 4th set, going to the service line with confidence, and to keep challenging their blockers, and we did just that. Brittany Cooper & Emily Sheperis had an extremely strong day and Kailyn & Gracie led the Pack well from the setting position. We are very proud of how this team performed this weekend earning two wins against Top 25 teams, and we look forward to cleaning some things up to prepare for next weekend in Bowling Green."
Pack Facts
Brittany Cooper collected the most kills on the team in both matches: 12 against St. Thomas and 13 against Keiser. She also tied with Simone Moreau for the team high in digs (17) against St. Thomas and was second with 12 digs against Keiser.
Cooper posted three double-doubles in the four matches this weekend.
Moreau led the Pack in digs in all four matches. On Saturday, she had 17 against St. Thomas and 13 against Keiser.
Gracie Bailey led the team with 19 assists against St. Thomas, while Kailyn O'Neal had the team high of 23 assists in the Keiser match.
Emily Sheperis hit above .300 in every match of the tournament, reaching double figures in kills against St. Thomas with 11. She had eight kills against Keiser on a .467 hitting percentage, also adding a team-high four blocks.
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.
