Wolf Pack sweeps Xavier Wednesday

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team played their final non-conference match of the season on Wednesday, defeating the Xavier Gold Nuggets three sets at the XULA Convocation Center in New Orleans. The next time these two teams meet in regular-season play will be in Southern States Athletic Conference action, as Xavier is set to join the league next fall. 
 

The Wolf Pack (19-7, 7-3 in SSAC) returns to conference play on Friday with a road game at Point University. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. CDT. 
 

Loyola grabbed an early lead in the opening set and held on to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Katy Hollingsworth notched the team's first kill, and Clarissa Dupree had back-to-back kills to make it a 5-2 lead for the Wolf Pack. Kills from Ivana De Carvalho Peixe, Samantha Guillotte, and Isis Harink gave Loyola six attackers with a kill, 14-8, and then Loyola continued to be efficient, pushing its advantage to 19-12. Kala Emanuelli served her second ace to help close out the first-set win. 
 

Despite the Wolf Pack jumping out to a 6-1 lead to start the second set, the two teams battled closely until Loyola edged Xavier to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Alexa Palmer and Dupree each had two kills in that early run, as well as Emanuelli serving her third ace of the match. The Gold Nuggets won nine of the next 10 points to go ahead 10-7 after that, though. After a Wolf Pack timeout, two Harink kills helped power a 9-1 run for Loyola to flip the lead again, 15-11, then XULA responded by taking a 17-16 lead a few points later. Dupree registered three kills in a quick span to make it a 20-19 Loyola advantage, followed by a handful of errors by the hosts to give the Pack set point, 24-21. Peixe finished things off with her third kill of the match. 
 

XULA got off to a good start in the third set, but Dupree continued to add to her kill total with two more to help bring the game tied, 4-4. Hollingsworth had a solo block and Dupree found the floor again to put Loyola ahead for the first time, 10-9. Three attacks by Harink made it a 14-12 lead, then the freshman had an ace to make the score 16-13. Palmer recorded two more kills, and Peixe had back-to-back attacks to seal the win.
 

Pack Facts

• Kala Emanuelli had match highs in digs (15) and service aces (3). 

• Juliet Petruzelli also played well in the back row, totaling eight digs. 

• Emanuelli still ranks in the top 10 in the NAIA in total digs with 449 so far this season. She also is up to 45 aces, which is tied for 12th in the NAIA. 

• Both Wolf Pack setters averaged at least six assists per set against the Gold Nuggets. Ellie Connor led the team with 19 while Belén Puche Laguna had 18. Both also recorded five digs. 

• Clarissa Dupree led the Wolf Pack attack with 10 kills, marking her fifth match this season with double-digit kills. 

• Isis Harink hit .412 for the match with nine kills, her 14th straight match with at least seven kills. She's also hit above .300 in all but one match during that span.

• Alexa Palmer totaled eight kills against Xavier, her fourth consecutive match with at least eight. 

• Samantha Guillotte had a kill in half of her attempts on Wednesday, finishing with seven kills and only one error on a .429 hitting percentage. 

• Loyola racked up 45 kills as a team against the Gold Nuggets, which is tied for the most by the Pack in a three-set match this year. Six different players logged at least five kills in the match: Dupree (10), Harink (9), Palmer (8), Guillotte (7), Ivana De Carvalho Peixe (6), and Katy Hollingsworth (5). 

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