Wolf Pack rebounds at Stillman

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team needed a match like Saturday's. Traveling to Stillman College, the Wolf Pack won a three-set contest over the Tigers to snap a three-game losing streak. Loyola is now 12-9 overall and 5-3 in Southern States Athletic Conference action, and it'll travel to Faulkner for a Tuesday matchup next week. 

Back-to-back kills by Kala Emanuelli and Natalie Burkholder got things started for the Wolf Pack, then an ace by Juliet Petruzelli helped put the Pack ahead 5-4 early. Loyola had five attackers record kills through its first nine points, too, as Emma Fahy, Sydney Love and Alicia Simmons all got in on the action, 9-4. Emanuelli and Fahy's second kill each extended the advantage to 16-5 and Madeline Corrall added two service aces to allow for an easy opening-set win. 

Burkholder picked up where she left off in the first set, quickly giving Loyola a 3-1 lead with her fourth kill of the match. After Stillman kept things close early, Love recorded three quick attacks to put the Pack up 9-6. A Dallis Brown ace kept things going, 13-8, and Preslie Boswell notched a couple of kills to keep the game out of reach for the Tigers, 21-13. Gabby Masiello finished the set off with a couple of aces, too. 

Again, Burkholder started the scoring for the Pack, and Fahy and Love each added their fifth kills of the match moments later for an early 4-2 lead. Emanuelli continued her season-best performance with three more kills, and more aces by Petruzelli, Corrall and Brown made the third set 16-4. From there, Loyola cruised to an easy match-clinching win. 

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"Today was a great opportunity to focus on us and get some time for those that haven't seen the floor as much this year. They really took advantage and put up some great numbers. Natalie, Emma, Kala, Sydney, and Alicia all had a really strong offensive game. Dallis made some great plays on defense and did a great job of stepping into the libero position. She also shined at the service line and helped us get a huge lead in the 3rd set. Juliet has also stepped in during the past two matches to provide a strong serve, and she racked up some aces today as well. The team had great energy on and off the court."

Pack Facts

• In Saturday's match, Loyola had its second-best team hitting percentage of the season. With 33 team kills in 66 attempts with just nine errors the Pack hit .364 for the match.

• The Wolf Pack points leader was freshman Kala Emanuelli, who finished with a season-high nine kills and a .471 hitting percentage. She also had a team-high four blocks and two service aces. 

• Loyola players combined to serve 18 aces against Stillman. That's the most team aces for the Pack since Aug. 27, 2016, when the team had 19 aces against SUNO. 

• Juliet Petruzelli and Dallis Brown led the team with four aces each. Madeline Corrall and Gabby Masiello each had three, while Gracie Bailey tied Emanuellli with two aces. 

• Bailey led the team with 13 assists, while Masiello had 12. 

• Playing libero, Brown was the team's digs leader with 13. Emanuelli and Corrall each recorded five digs. 

• Natalie Burkholder, who did not record a single error in her 10 attacks, put up a hitting percentage of .700 with seven kills and three blocks.

• Emma Fahy was third on the team with six kills. Sydney Love was right behind her, with five total kills plus a block. 

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