Wolf Pack volleyball opens season with Big Sky Challenge Friday

BUTTE, Mont. – After receiving votes in the preseason national ratings, the Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team began its 2024 season Friday with two matches at the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge. Following a tough loss to Life Pacific (Calif.) in the early game, the Pack closed out the day against the 2023 national runners-up, No. 2-ranked Northwestern College (Iowa). 
 

The Big Sky Challenge continues on Saturday with two matches at the Butte Civic Center for the Pack. First up is the host school, No. 21 Montana Tech, at 12 p.m. CDT., then another Frontier school, Montana State University-Northern, at 4 p.m. CDT. 
 

Life Pacific 3, Loyola 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-18)

The Warriors started off well in the first set, taking an 11-6 lead. WIth kills from Preslie Boswell, Juliet Petruzelli, and Natalie Burkholder, the Wolf Pack scored eight of the next eleven points to even the score at 14-all. Life Pacific fought back, however, maintaining a lead through the end of the first set, taking a one-set lead, 25-21.
 

A Burkholder kill, an ace from Simone Moreau and a block from Amaya Bazemore and Alexa Palmer put the Pack ahead to start the second set, 3-0. From that point, both teams continued to score, tying the set at 8-8. With the match tied at 12-12, Samantha Guillotte found the floor and Ellie Connor served her second ace of the set to give Loyola the lead, 14-12. The Warriors did not let up for the rest of the second set, taking the set, 25-21.
 

The third set went much the same as the previous two with both teams keeping the score close with a tie at 12-all. Then, Life Pacific pulled away in the final set, taking the match.
 

#2 Northwestern College 3, Loyola 0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-21)

Northwestern jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never trailed in the first set, though Loyola kept it close at times. Palmer totaled six kills in the opening frame, with five of Belén Puche Laguna's eight first-set assists going to Palmer. Moreau also dug the ball eight times in the first, and the Wolf Pack kept things close for much of the period, trailing by just two at 20-18. The Raiders put away five of the last six points to go up 1-0 in the match. 
 

The Raiders again built an early lead in the second set, not allowing much from the Pack for a 25-12 result.
 

The Pack responded well in the third set, the closest of the three. Northwestern went up by as many as six points at 11-5, but Loyola got within one at 19-18 after Palmer's 13th kill of the match. The Pack got a couple more kills from Bazemore and Boswell but the Raiders held on for the win in the end. 
 

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"We knew this tournament would be a tough test, but we went into the weekend focusing on our opportunities to grow as a team. I am incredibly proud of how our team responded after our first loss this morning. Despite the outcomes of both matches, it was also great to see some of our newcomers and returners who haven't seen as much playing time find their place on the court. We have a lot of learning and growing to do, and I know this group is up for that challenge.
 

Pack Facts

• Loyola's leading attacker on the day, Alexa Palmer set a new career high with 13 kills in the Northwestern match. Palmer also matched a career best with six digs against Life Pacific. 

• Belén Puche Laguna finished with a match-high 23 assists against Northwestern after having 10 against Life Pacific. 

• Ellie Connor led the Pack with 15 assists plus four service aces in the first match of the day. 

• Loyola's libero Simone Moreau led both teams in digs in the Northwestern match, finishing with 20. She also totaled nine in the first match. 

• Amaya Bazemore had six kills in match one and seven in match two, leading the team with five blocks on the day. 
   

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