Volleyball continues Big Easy Blastoff Friday

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team suffered two losses on Friday at the Big Easy Blastoff. The Wolf Pack started the day with a loss to Campbellsville (Ky.) in the morning before being defeated by MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in the evening, both coming in four sets. 
 

Loyola will close the weekend on Saturday with a 5 p.m. matchup against No. 7 Columbia College (Mo.). 
 

Campbellsville 3, (RV) Loyola 1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 27-25)

Loyola started the match by taking a 10-2 lead in the opening game, as Amaya Bazemore, Katy Hollingsworth and Clarissa Dupree each recorded two kills. The Tigers, however, roared back to tie the game, 10-10, on their way to the first-set win. 
 

The Wolf Pack played much better in the second set to help even the match. Three different attackers (Emma Fahy, Samantha Guillotte and Dupree) helped score Loyola's first four points, and kills by Bazemore and Hollingsworth, as well as an ace by Kala Emanuelli, brought the score to 10-10. An ace by Belén Puche Laguna sparked a quick 7-1 run to extend Loyola's lead to 17-11, then two more kills by Guillotte helped keep it a five-point lead, 19-14. Juliet Petruzelli served two aces down the stretch to make the match score 1-1. 
 

After dropping the third set, Loyola put up a fight in the fourth. The Pack led 3-0 early thanks to two kills by Guillotte and an ace by Petruzelli, and another ace by Ellie Connor brought the score to 6-3. Two kills by Bazemore fended off Campbellsville, 9-8, but the score would be tied at 9-9, 10-10, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16 and 18-18 before back-to-back kills by Fahy and Hollingsworth gave the Wolf Pack a 20-18 advantage. Loyola actually led 22-19, but the Tigers won eight of the next 11 points to win the set, 27-25, and the match. 
 

MidAmerica Nazarene 3, Loyola 1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18)

Loyola dropped another four-setter in the evening matchup against the Pioneers. The Wolf Pack got off to a good start in the first set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead, but MidAmerica Nazarene quickly tied it and took the lead with five straight points. Trailing 14-8, Loyola used attacks by Dupree, Bazemore and Guillotte to win five of the next six points to cut it to two, 15-13. The Pioneers kept Loyola at-bay, though, to win the opening game by four. 
 

Similar to the first match of the day, Loyola played much better in the second set to tie the match. Fahy, Bazemore and Hollingsworth collected kills in the early going, and Bazemore and Hollingsworth combined for two blocks to give Loyola a 7-4 advantage. A quick 4-0 run a few points later gave MidAmerica an 11-8 lead, but the Wolf Pack answered with four straight, too, after a timeout, 12-11. Bazemore tallied three more kills to put Loyola in front, 18-17, and Fahy added three more kills as well to help secure the set. 
 

The Pioneers, however, won the next two sets to claim the match. 
 

Pack Facts

• Amaya Bazemore matched a career high with 16 kills on a .520 hitting percentage in the match against MidAmerica Nazarene. She also totaled seven blocks in the match, tying her season best. 

• Clarissa Dupree finished with double-digit kills for the first time this season, putting up 11 in the first match and 10 in the second. 

• Samantha Guillotte also had a season-best on Friday with 10 kills against MidAmerica Nazarene and nine against Campbellsville. 

• Emma Fahy committed no errors on a career-high nine kills in the Campbellsville match. 

• Katy Hollingsworth also posted nine kills against Campbellsville, her most in a match at Loyola. 

• Ellie Connor went over 20 assists in each match, with 22 in the first and 21 in the second.

• Belén Puche Laguna notched her second double-double with 20 assists and 13 digs against Campbellsville. Gabriella Masiello also had her second of the year with 15 assists and 11 digs. 

• Simone Moreau led the team in digs in both matches, 14 against Campbellsville and 26, a season high, against MidAmerica Nazarene.