Volleyball loses at UT Southern

PULASKI, Tenn. – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team wrapped up their first Southern States Athletic Conference road trip with a four-set loss to Tennessee Southern on Saturday. It's the last match for the Wolf Pack for nearly two weeks, next playing host to Faulkner on Friday, Sept. 20. 
 

Loyola got off to a hot start in the opening game, taking a 3-0 lead off an attack by Amaya Bazemore and a service ace by Ellie Connor. Bazemore quickly added her second kill, then Clarissa Dupree and Emma Fahy both found the floor to put the Pack ahead 6-3. The Loyola setters, Gabriella Masiello and Ellie Connor, continued to feed Bazemore in the middle and Samantha Guillotte served an ace to maintain the three-point lead, 12-9. Back-to-back kills for Fahy, 14-10, prompted a Firehawk timeout. Loyola kept UT Southern at-bay thanks to kills by Dupree and Guillotte, 18-14, then Bazemore continued to dominate with two kills and a block down the stretch to earn the first-set win. 
 

The Firehawks scored the first five points of the second set prior to Bazemore getting the Wolf Pack on the board. Bazemore notched two more kills before her serve helped cut UT Southern's lead to 7-6, and an ace by Masiello and kills by Dupree and Preslie Boswell flipped the lead in Loyola's favor, 11-8. The two teams were locked in a tight one from there, as the Firehawks battled back to tie it at 11-11 and 17-17 every time Loyola tried to pull away. They'd eventually take the 20-18 lead, though, and hold on to even the match. 
 

Neither team could take a lead larger than three in the early going of the third set, with the score reading 13-13 after the first 26 points. Bazemore led the attack with three kills during that stretch, as well as Natalie Burkholder and Alexa Palmer getting in on the action. Trailing 20-17, two kills each by Dupree and Burkholder helped tie the set at 22-22, then a kill by Guillotte tied it again, 23-23. Tennessee Southern, however, won two straight points to close out another set win. 
 

UT Southern finished off the match with a four-set win. 
 

Wolf Pack Head Coach Jesse Zabal

"I think the biggest challenge of this season so far has been the journey this group has been on to find their voice, their identity. And while that does apply to individuals, more importantly it applies to us as a group. We are still finding our way as a cohesive unit, but the big positive is that each and every player has never given up on that challenge. These losses hurt and are incredibly tough to swallow, but we know we can be better and we'll keep working towards consistency and balance on both the offensive and defensive sides of our game."
 

Pack Facts

• Amaya Bazemore posted a career-high 17 kills on a .483 hitting percentage. 

• Clarissa Dupree also tallied her most kills of the season, 13.

• Gabriella Masiello's 23 assists were the most of her career. She also led the team with four aces and had nine digs. 

• Simone Moreau's 18 digs led the Pack on Saturday. She also served three aces. 

• The Wolf Pack's 13 aces were the team's most in any match this season. 

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