Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

JOLIET, Ill. – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team won one match and lost another on Day 1 of the University of St. Francis' Big Dogs Classic, as head coach Jesse Zabal earned her 100th career victory in the process. Loyola started with a dominating effort against the host, sweeping in straight sets before a tough four-set loss to Missouri Valley. 

 

The Pack will play two more matches on Saturday, starting with a matchup against St. Xavier, which is receiving votes in the national poll, at 9 a.m. before taking on Aquinas College at 11:30 a.m.

 

Loyola 3, St. Francis 0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-14)

 

The host squad started the match with three straight points before the Pack could get on the board. After the Fighting Saints grabbed a 6-3 advantage, Loyola used a 6-0 run to snatch control of the opening game, 9-6, as Amaya Bazemore and Simone Tyson each had kills. After the two teams went back and forth during the next few points, 13-10, Loyola won the next five or six points to push ahead even more. Emily Sheperis was the major reason why, finding the floor three times to help build a 21-10 lead, then she notched another kill to help Loyola take a 1-0 match lead. 

 

After a back-and-forth start to the second set, the Fighting Saints used a 7-0 run to take a 13-6 lead over the Pack. A St. Francis service error, a kill by Sheperis and an ace by Gracie Bailey got Loyola back into the game 14-9, but again, USF made it a seven-point game, 21-14, moments later. Loyola, however, finished strong on an 11-2 run to take a 2-0 match lead. Preslie Boswell got things going with a couple of attacks that found the floor, then Sheperis got in on the action to cut the score to 21-19. Five more errors by St. Francis and a Brittany Cooper kill sealed the set win. 

 

After that close second set, the third game looked more like the first. Bailey recorded a service ace during the opening stretch that saw Loyola take a 5-3 lead, and Cooper, Boswell and Bazemore each had kills over the next few points to extend the score to 11-7. Three St. Francis errors and attacks by Sheperis, Cooper and Emma Fahy pushed the lead to 17-12, then a 5-0 run late in the set sealed the match for the Pack.  

 

Missouri Valley 3, Loyola 1 (26-24, 28-30, 25-15, 25-21)

 

After having eight kills in the first match, Emily Sheperis began the second match with a kill. Missouri Valley College took an early lead at 5-2, but Loyola came back to tie it at 5-5. MVC Then strung together several points in a row to lead 11-6, but once again the Wolf Pack had an answer, storming back to go ahead 14-12 after a 7-1 run that included four kills from Preslie Boswell and Emma Fahy. Neither team led by more than two points for the rest of the opening frame, with the Vikings barely winning 26-24. 

 

The second set was just as close as the first, this time with the Wolf Pack prevailing after a good start. Gracie Bailey served an ace, accompanied by two kills from Sheperis to begin the set. Loyola held a lead for a majority of the period until MVC came back late in the set. The Pack had to fight off three separate set points, with the Vikings up 25-24, 27-26, and 28-27. Three consecutive Loyola points tied the match at 1-1, with Brittany Cooper finishing off the set with back-to-back kills. 

 

The teams were mostly even in Set 3 until midway through the frame. After Loyola scored four straight to tie the score at 12-12, the Vikings ran away with it, scoring 13 of the next 16 points to take a 2-1 set advantage. 

 

Another big Missouri Valley run in the fourth and final set allowed the Vikings to claim the match. The Wolf Pack held a 7-5 lead early, followed by seven straight from MVC, after which they never trailed. 

 

Pack Facts

• Loyola head coach Jesse Zabal reached the 100-win mark for her career with the victory against St. Francis. She joins Greg Castillo and Tommy Harold as the only Wolf Pack volleyball coaches with 100 career wins. 

• This was Loyola's first victory against St. Francis since December 5, 2002, when the teams met at the NAIA National Championship. 

• Emily Sheperis has entered the top 10 in career blocks in Loyola's record book. Now with 201 blocks in her career, she's in 10th place in the record, needing just two more blocks to jump into ninth. 

• Sheperis also led the Pack in kills in both matches, with eight against St. Francis and 12 against Missouri Valley. She was the only Loyola player to have a hitting percentage over .500 for each match, with a combined percentage of .545 between the two matches. 

• Brittany Cooper put up double-digit kills for the third time this season, with 11 against Missouri Valley. She also had nine digs. 

• Simone Moreau finished with at least 10 digs in both matches, 11 against St. Francis and 14 against Missouri Valley.

• Rebecca LaCour was in double figures in assists in both matches, 11 in the first match and 13 in the second. Gracie Bailey logged her second double-double in the four-set match, with 18 assists and 11 digs. 

 

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