Volleyball hosts Wolf Pack Welcome

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team opened their home schedule on Friday with Day 1 of the Wolf Pack Welcome tournament. The Pack played two teams either ranked or receiving votes in the national poll, losing both games to Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and No. 15 Montana Western. 
 

Loyola will be back in action on Saturday, facing Webber International (Fla.) at 11 a.m. and Texas Wesleyan at 3 p.m.
 

(RV) Embry-Riddle 3, (RV) Loyola 1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-13, 25-19) 

Amaya Bazemore got the set started with a block and a kill to make the game tied, 3-3, then an ace by Juliet Petruzelli and an attack from Clarissa Dupree put Loyola ahead, 5-4, early. After four straight points from the Eagles, two kills by Alexa Palmer put Loyola back in the lead, 10-9. The two teams would go back and forth for a few rotations, as a block by Preslie Boswell tied the set for the 10th time, 14-14. Embry-Riddle would eventually pull ahead, 19-16 and 21-17, on its way to the opening-set win. 
 

Loyola began the second set attacking well, with Samantha Guillotte, Bazemore and Dupree all finding the floor to make it an early 4-3 lead. After the Eagles scored three in a row, Natalie Burkholder and Palmer notched kills to tie it up, 6-6, then Palmer and Guillotte made it a 10-8 lead. Embry-Riddle jumped out ahead and maintained a one- to two-point advantage until Emma Fahy and Bazemore combined for a block to finally tie it, 18-18. An attack by Bazemore and an error by the Eagles put Loyola ahead, 20-19, then Boswell and Palmer helped finish things off to tie the match, 1-1. 
 

After a tough third set that saw the Eagles take a 2-1 lead in the match, the Wolf Pack got kills from four different players (Bazemore, Guillotte, Palmer and Boswell) to keep the game tied, 6-6, in the early going of the fourth set. Embry-Riddle, however, used an 8-1 run to grab control of the set, 14-7, prompting a Loyola timeout. Trailing 19-11, five Embry-Riddle errors and a Palmer kill made it a 22-18 game, but the Eagles won three of the final four points to claim the match. 
 

#15 Montana Western 3, (RV) Loyola 1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 25-19)

A service ace by Katy Hollingsworth gave Loyola an early 4-3 lead in the opening game, then a kill by Dupree kept the Wolf Pack within one, 7-6. Montana Western, though, scored five of the next six points to take a 12-7 advantage. A couple of Bulldog errors and a Bazemore attack allowed the deficit to stay at five, 15-10, but Montana Western would push back ahead 17-11 and 20-13 as the set progressed. An attack by Fahy and an ace by Ellie Connor made things interesting, 22-17, but it wasn't enough to mount the comeback. 
 

A couple of blocks from Guillotte, Bazemore and Dupree, as well as attacks from Guillotte and Boswell, brought the second set score to a 6-6 tie. Back-to-back kills by Burkholder and Fahy pushed Loyola's lead to 10-7, then a combined block by Bazemore and Boswell extended the lead to 15-10. Petruzelli served an ace, 17-11, and a kill by Boswell stopped a quick 3-0 run for the Bulldogs, 18-14. UMW scored five straight after that, though, taking a 19-18 lead over the Pack. The two teams traded a couple of points before Bazemore blocked one to put the Pack back ahead, 23-22, and a couple of Guillotte attacks extended the set, 25-25. The set was clinched for the Wolf Pack on Petruzelli's serve, 28-26. 
 

Bazemore propelled Loyola to a 3-1 lead with two kills to start the third set, but after UMW broke the 4-4 tie, it wouldn't relinquish the lead en route to the third-set win. In the fourth set, the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead, but Loyola used a 6-3 run to make it a 10-7 deficit. Attacks by Burkholder, Boswell and Guillotte matched Montana Western's offensive efforts, 15-11, but the Bulldogs pushed, again, ahead to finish the match. 
 

Pack Facts

• Amaya Bazemore led the team with 10 kills and six blocks in the Embry-Riddle match, adding seven kills and seven blocks against Montana Western. The seven blocks matches the second-highest of her Loyola career. 

• After totaling three kills before the tournament, Samantha Guillotte had 15 kills between the two matches Friday, eight vs. Embry-Riddle and seven vs. Montana Western. She added seven blocks in the night match.

• Alexa Palmer also tallied eight kills in the first match.

• Preslie Boswell led the team with eight kills against Montana Western. 

• Clarissa Dupree matched her season high with seven kills in the Montana Western match. 

• Ellie Connor led the team with 19 assists in each match. Gabriella Masiello also had double-digit assists in both matches.