NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team finished off its home tournament on Saturday with two more wins, sweeping both Bluefield (Va.) and Michigan-Dearborn to take all four games of the Wolf Pack Welcome Tournament. 
 

Amazya Bazemore and Simone Tyson represented Loyola on the seven-woman All-Tournament Team as well. 
 

Loyola will play in one more four-match tournament next weekend, traveling to Omaha, Nebraska, to take part in the Bellevue-hosted, GoSarpy.com Labor Day Classic. The Pack will play Missouri Valley, Dickinson State (N.D.), No. 22 Ottawa (Kan.) and No. 19 Central Methodist (Mo.) next Friday and Saturday. 
 

Loyola 3, Bluefield 0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-16)

Samantha Ingram got the match started with a quick ace, followed by a couple of kills by Preslie Boswell to keep the Pack ahead in the early going, 3-2. Five different Loyola players recorded a kill during the next 13 points, with Amaya Bazemore collecting two to help the Pack take an 11-7 lead. Moments later, Loyola won a few points in a row with Ellie Connor serving, bringing the lead to 18-10. Alexa Palmer and Emily Sheperis led the team in kills in the opening set, each notching three to help take a 1-0 lead in the match. 
 

Palmer quickly got her first kill of the second set to earn Loyola's first point, and Madeline Corrall served an ace to give Loyola its first lead, 3-2. After a Boswell attack gave the Pack the serve back, 5-5, Connor went on another serving run that pushed Loyola's lead to 12-5. Juliana Pacini got hot with four kills and a solo block, 14-6, then Simone Moreau's serve helped fuel an 8-0 run to quickly give Loyola a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 

Bluefield hung tough in the third and final set, but the Wolf Pack used 11 kills and six service aces to finish the match in three sets. Juliet Petruzelli got in on the attacking action, and Kala Emanuelli made it six different Loyola players with a service ace in the match. With the score 17-16, Emily Sheperis' service game allowed the Pack to win the final eight points to close out the contest. 
 

Loyola 3, Michigan-Dearborn 0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-14)

Simone Tyson recorded a couple of kills to get the match going, and after Connor served an ace, Bazemore and Tyson each had back-to-back attacks to make it an 11-4 Loyola lead. With the score 13-6, Pacini and Bazemore both accounted for a couple of kills to help Loyola win nine of the next 12 points, 22-9, then Palmer put an exclamation point on the set with the team's 14th kill to claim the opening game. 
 

The two teams played close at the beginning of the second set, but the Pack scored seven in a row to take a 10-5 lead. Sheperis had a couple of aces and Pacini found the floor twice, too, but the Wolverines were able to cut the deficit to 14-12. Leading by one, Boswell recorded a solo block and Bazemore and Pacini combined on a block assist to push the lead to 18-15. Again, though, Michigan-Dearborn fought back to tie the game at 21-all. Tyson broke that tie with an attack, Ingram had an ace, and Tyson recorded another kill to set Loyola up with a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 

The teams once again went back-and-forth to begin the final period, with the score tied at 9-9. Then, Emily Sheperis took the match over. Sheperis recorded the next three points on kills, then Boswell got another to put the Pack up 13-9 and prompt a timeout from the Wolverines. After Dearborn got two points back, Sheperis went to work again, getting three more kills in a row before serving an ace to make it 18-12. Two more kills by Bazemore, an ace by Pacini, and a slew of attack errors by the Wolverines had the Pack cruising to the finish line. 

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"I am incredibly proud of our team. To go 4-0, and beyond that, 12-0 in sets is impressive. They really owned the mindset of protecting our home court. I'm pleased with how well our setters are spreading the ball. We have such close numbers in attack attempts and when our hitters are efficient, it looks really good. Amaya had an incredible weekend. She only had six hitting errors across all four matches! Our defensive play also continues to gain momentum from previous years with our blocking and digging numbers looking solid for the start of the season. We're excited to keep moving the needle forward, and we have another tough weekend ahead as we head north for Bellevue's tournament. I know our group will continue to be up for the challenge."
 

Pack Facts

• Loyola did not drop a single set in the tournament. 

• After four efficient attacking performances over the weekend, Amaya Bazemore's hitting percentage is up to .402 this season, the best on the team.  

• After putting up 12 kills against Michigan-Dearborn, Bazemore is also the Wolf Pack's leader in kills this season with 59. Her blocks total, 31, is also a team high.

• Simone Tyson had her best offensive match of the season, 10 kills with just one error while hitting .429, in the Dearborn match. She's up to 52 kills this season at 2.2 kills per set. 

• Ellie Connor led the team with 18 assists against Bluefield, while Samantha Ingram had a team-high 16 against Dearborn.

• Both of Loyola's starting setters reached double-digit assists in every match of the tournament. 

• Simone Moreau led the team in digs in both matches, 13 against Bluefield and 11 against Dearborn. 

• Emily Sheperis hit a season high in kills against the Wolverines with eight. 

• Neither opponent could slow down Sheperis on serves Saturday, as she had five aces in each match, leading the team with 17 total aces on the season. 

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