Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Wolf Pack volleyball team finished the Vette City Classic in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 2-2 after earning a pair of wins on the tournament's final day
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team bounced back Saturday at the Vette City Classic, winning two matches against Georgetown College and Pikeville to end the tournament 2-2. The Wolf Pack started the day with a 3-1 win over Georgetown before sweeping Pikeville to move their record to 4-4 on the season.
The Wolf Pack returns to the court Friday when they host the Wolf Pack Welcome tournament in The Den. Loyola is slated to open with Wayland Baptist at noon on Friday, playing three more matches throughout the weekend.
Loyola 3, Georgetown College 1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-18)
The first set featured close play by the two teams, neither able to take a lead more than two until the Wolf Pack went up 11-8. There were five ties in the early going, and a kill and an ace by Kailyn O'Neal helped Loyola create some separation. The Tigers battled back to tie the set, 14-14, but errors by Georgetown College, a kill by Brittany Cooper, and two more aces by O'Neal put the Wolf Pack up for good. Emily Sheperis added back-to-back kills for the game's final two points to put Loyola up 1-0 in the match.
The next two sets were even closer than the first, as each team won a game with a score of 25-23. Georgetown College tied the match in Set 2, but Loyola earned a tough third-set win to go back up in the match. Loyola jumped up 7-0 early in the third game, pushing the score to 18-12 thanks to three more service aces by O'Neal and three kills each from Cooper and Sheperis. The Tigers, however, fought out of a 24-18 hole to make it a 24-23 game. A service error by Georgetown ended its run and gave the Wolf Pack a 2-1 advantage in the match.
It was Georgetown College's turn to start a set strong, starting with a 6-2 lead. A kill by O'Neal tied the set 9-9 and her eighth ace of the match put the Wolf Pack up 12-9. Attacks by Simone Tyson, Alicia Simmons and Gabriela Martinez pushed the lead to 22-14, and Cooper and Dallis Brown finished the match with a kill and an ace, respectively.
Loyola 3, Pikeville 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-17)
The Wolf Pack took the momentum into the second match of the day, using two aces by Cooper and kills by Tyson and Sheperis to jump up 7-2 in the game's first set. Pikeville cut the Loyola lead down to 10-8 moments later, but the Wolf Pack scored six of the game's next seven points to take another big lead, 16-10. In fact, Loyola won the game's final seven of eight points to take a 1-0 lead in the contest.
Loyola continued their solid play in the second set, taking a 2-0 match lead with another 25-15 set-win. Tyson tallied three kills early in the set to take a 7-4 advantage, then Cooper and Sheperis got going to push the score to 14-8. Martinez's kill made it 17-11, as Loyola cruised to the Game 2 win.
The third set was much the same with Sheperis recording two early attacks. Alexa Hull added a service ace, giving the Wolf Pack an 8-2 lead before Pikeville battled back to make it an 11-9 Wolf Pack lead. Sheperis and Cooper pushed the lead back out to four, and Gracie Bailey's service game helped Loyola string together five straight points to put the match away.
"We did a great job turning around from a tough first day and playing a more well rounded game. Georgetown is a strong program that we lost to a few years ago, so it was nice to earn a win against them. Brittany Cooper, Emily Sheperis, and Alicia Simmons all hit very efficiently and Dallis Brown and Simone Tyson made great plays defensively. Against Pikeville, we started strong, served very aggressively and finished out the weekend with confidence. It's hard not to be on the winning side of things with four attackers hitting .500 or better in a match. Brittany, Simone Tyson, Gabriela, and Emily were phenomenal offensively. Our setters did tremendous work today as well, with Kailyn probably hitting one of her best career averages with over 6.5 assists per set in each match. She also snagged 8 service aces against Georgetown. We're proud of the resilience our team showed after yesterday and look forward to seeing us continue to grow throughout the season."
Pack Facts
Loyola's team hitting percentage of .486 is the program's best performance since the team recorded a .515 percentage on August 31, 2012.
Brittany Cooper was perfect in her attack against Pikeville: 10 kills in 10 attempts, with no errors. She also had a career performance on her serve, with five aces.
In the win against Georgetown, Cooper led the Wolf Pack in total kills, tying a season-high with 16.
Simone Tyson also tied her best-attacking output of the season against Georgetown, going for 14 kills on a .545 hitting percentage.
Tyson and Dallis Brown tied for the team lead in digs in the first match of the day, with each player recording 12. It was Brown's highest total of the season.
The team's leader in hitting percentage so far this season Emily Sheperis had 10 kills in 14 attempts with just one error in the win over Pikeville, a .643 hitting percentage.
Kailyn O'Neal led the team in assists in both matches, posting 27 against Georgetown. That number ties her career-high in four-set matches.
O'Neal's eight service aces against Georgetown set a new career-best. Her previous career-high was five.
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