Loyola volleyball wins two on Senior Day

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team closed out its Celebration Weekend with two victories on Saturday. The Wolf Pack defeated Stillman College and Louisiana Christian University, both in straight sets, to improve to 22-10 and 14-4 in Southern States Athletic Conference play. 

The 14-4 conference record was good enough for the Wolf Pack to earn the third seed in the upcoming SSAC Volleyball Championship. The tournament, which runs Nov. 10-12 at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., will begin with pool play, with Loyola in Pool B along with No. 2 seed William Carey, No. 6 Life, and No. 7 Talladega. 

Loyola 3, Stillman College 0 (25-6, 25-6, 25-10)

Kills by Emily Sheperis and Kala Emanuelli got things going for the Wolf Pack in the opening set, and back-to-back service aces by Brittany Cooper made the score 5-1. Emma Fahy, Amaya Bazemore and Sheperis added more attacks, 8-3, and two aces by Emanuelli kept things going in the right direction for Loyola, 14-4. Simone Moreau and Gracie Bailey each had aces, too, to make it seven total in the first set. 

The second set was another dominating one for the Wolf Pack, totaling 12 kills and five aces while only committing three total errors. Fahy got things started with two early kills, then four attacks from Juliet Petruzelli helped extend the lead to 14-2. Sheperis had three aces during a 10-0 run, and Rebecca LaCour and Moreau each added an ace to end the set with a score of 25-6. 

A Preslie Boswell attack and eight errors by Stillman allowed Loyola to take a 9-5 lead early. Moreau and Bailey each served an ace after that, 13-6, and Sheperis continued to serve well with another ace a couple of points later, 20-8. Madeline Corrall recorded a kill in the final points to help secure the sweep. 

Loyola 3, Louisiana Christian 0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-22)

Bailey started the second game of the day with an ace, as the Pack won the first three points of the first set. Attacks by Bazemore and Tyson made it an 8-5 Wolf Pack lead, but the Wildcats scored three straight to tie it. Two kills and an ace by Cooper made it a four-point game, 14-10, but again, LCU fought back to take a 15-14 advantage. Tyson, as well as three errors by the visitors, put Loyola ahead for good, 18-15. Tyson, Bazemore, Boswell and Cooper each racked up kills down the stretch to give Loyola a 1-0 lead in the match. 

After Loyola won the first point off LCU's service, Cooper served five more points for the Pack, featuring attacks and blocks by Tyson and Sherpies. Bazemore and Sheperis found the floor on back-to-back points, 8-1, and Fahy notched her first of the set to keep control of the game, 9-2. Bazemore, Tyson, Sheperis and Cooper all had kills on their way to a 17-7 score. The Wolf Pack outscored the Wildcats 8-5 from there to take a 2-0 lead in the match. 

In the third set, LCU led the Pack, 3-1. Then, a Cooper ace, a block by Sheperis and Fahy, and a kill by Fahy brought the Pack to a 5-3 lead. LCU got a five-point lead on Loyola, but the Pack fought back. Behind a kill and a block by Bazemore, as well as an ace by Kala Emanuelli, the Pack were able to make the score 13-12. It was a back-and-forth contest in the third set, but the Pack managed to take a 20-19 lead. A few points by LCU made it a challenge for the Pack to finish things up, down 22-20. Coming out of a timeout, the Pack made it a three-set victory, scoring five-straight points with a kill by Sheperis, a block by Bazemore and Emanuelli, a kill by Emanuelli, and a final block by Fahy and Bazemore.

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"Today was a really great conclusion to our Celebration Weekend. Gracie, Brittany, Dallis, and Rebecca have been incredible pieces of our program and have done great work to help us be who, what, and where we are today. Today was no different with all four of them contributing in great ways. Gracie hit the 1,000 career digs milestone, along with setting a great match & Rebecca doing the same, Brittany was strong offensively, and we loved seeing the confidence that Dallis exuded today in the libero jersey. These four have grown so much and it was a pleasure being able to celebrate them today. Amaya and Emily also played well in both matches today. The team is primed and pumped up to get to the conference tournament next week. They are hungry and definitely have their eyes on the prize."

Pack Facts

• The 15 team aces against Stillman was the third-highest total of the season. Loyola has combined for 33 service aces between the two matches against the Tigers this season. 

• Brittany Cooper has entered the top 10 in Loyola history in service aces after serving two aces in each match on Saturday. She's now at 174 total aces for her career, which is the 10th-most in a career in Loyola history. 

• Gracie Bailey passed former teammate Sunni Blanchard for sixth on Loyola's all-time assists leaderboard. In the record book for both aces and assists, Bailey now has 2,095 assists in her four years with the Pack. 

• Bailey also reached another career milestone, as she's over the 1,000-dig mark with 1,003 total digs for her career. 

• Dallis Brown, who played as the Wolf Pack libero in the match against Louisiana Christian, finished with a team-high 12 digs against the Wildcats. She's now over the 500 mark for her career with 501 total digs. 

• Rebecca LaCour, who had 24 assists between the two matches on Saturday, is now up to 430 assists in her Wolf Pack career. 

• Loyola had a strong attacking presence against the Wildcats, as three different players had at least nine kills. Emily Sheperis led the way with 10 kills (.368), Cooper had nine (.238), and Simone Tyson had nine kills in just two sets. 

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.