Loyola gets back in the win column Saturday

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans rebounded from Friday's loss with a dominant win over Tennessee Southern on Saturday, taking down the Firehawks in straight sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-13) in The Den. 
 

Loyola (12-4, 3-1 in SSAC) has just one game on the schedule next week, traveling to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup with William Carey. The first serve is set for 6 p.m. 
 

Amaya Bazemore recorded a couple of attacks to bring the first set to a 3-3 tie, then six more ties brought the score to 9-9 moments later. The Pack then used a 6-0 run to create some separation, using two kills by Juliana Pacini, an ace by Emily Sheperis and a kill from Preslie Boswell and Simone Tyson, respectively, to take a 14-9 advantage. Three attacks by Bazemore and an ace by Ellie Connor sparked another run, this time a 7-0 streak to push the lead to 21-10. That was enough to seal the opening game for the Wolf Pack. 
 

The second set ended with the same score in Loyola's favor, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead in the match. Tyson and Alexa Palmer got things going on the attack to give Loyola a 4-3 lead, then Sheperis and Palmer combined on a block to keep the Pack ahead. Pacini registered a couple of kills to make it an 11-8 lead, and after UT Southern took a 14-13 lead, Bazemore had consecutive kills to put Loyola ahead for good. Leading by four, 20-16, three errors and a block by Sheperis and Tyson helped end the set. 
 

The Pack capped things off with a dominant effort in the third set. Sheperis and Bazemore started things off, and back-to-back service aces by Samantha Ingram quickly gave Loyola a 5-2 lead. A 5-0 run that saw Sheperis notch three kills pushed the score to 10-3, but the Firehawks were able to cut the score to 11-7 moments later. That was as close as they could get, though, as Palmer helped extend the lead back out to eight, 17-9, with a couple of kills from Tyson made it a 20-10 lead. Ingram had another ace and Boswell had two more kills to put the match away. 
 

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"Really proud of the team for how they bounced back from a tough loss last night. They really took advantage of the opportunity to improve on what we struggled with, especially with how aggressive our serve could be. Our ace-to-serve error ratio was much better this afternoon. Today's attack efficiency was also impressive and we'll keep striving for that as we continue in conference play."
 

Pack Facts

• Loyola's team hitting percentage of .351 was the second best of the season. 

• Amaya Bazemore led the team with 13 kills on a .476 hitting percentage. It was her fourth match this season with double-digit kills.

• Bazemore was one of four players who put up at least seven kills in the match, joining Simone Tyson, Emily Sheperis, and Juliana Pacini. 

• With a team-high 16 kills, Tyson had her best defensive numbers since September 3, 2022. 

• Ellie Connor led the Pack with 18 assists, though Samantha Ingram was not far behind with 17. Ingram also served a team-high four aces, while Connor had two. 

• Overall, the Wolf Pack combined to serve 10 aces in the match. It's the fifth time this season the team has had double-digit aces. 

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