Loyola Volleyball dominates on the road Friday

WEST POINT, Ga. – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team visited Point University (Ga.) on Friday for their second matchup of the year and another Southern States Athletic Conference contest. The Wolf Pack won in dominant fashion, earning its second sweep of the Skyhawks this year with another 3-0 victory.

The Wolf Pack (20-7, 7-3 in SSAC) will continue conference competition next weekend when the team hosts Tennessee Southern (10-5, 5-4) on Friday at 6 p.m. in The Den. Loyola will close the weekend with a Senior Day matchup against Blue Mountain Christian (16-5, 6-3) on Saturday in The Den.

The Maroon and Gold got to a quick lead in the early going of the first set, started by Clarissa Dupree and Katy Hollingsworth finding the floor, 2-0. Hollingsworth earned another kill, then Alexa Palmer got back-to-back kills with Kala Emanuelli serving an ace shortly after, 7-1. Another Emanuelli ace made it 9-1, then three Point attack errors totaled Loyola's score to a dozen, 12-1.

After Palmer found the floor again, Ivana De Carvalho Peixe scored her first kill of the match with an assist from Belén Puche Laguna, 14-4. Peixe got another kill with Lola Blancher earning an ace, 17-6. After Samantha Guillotte got on the board with a kill, Isis Harink and Peixe combined for a block, 20-7. The Pack closed the first set from there with three kills by Palmer and another from Dupree, 25-9.

The Skyhawks showed some fight in the second set, taking a 10-9 lead. The score stayed close from there with Guillotte, Dupree, Harink, and Peixe each earning kills to take the lead back at 15-14. The Wolf Pack ran away with the set after that, capping a six-point run with another Blancher ace, 20-14. Peixe collected a trio of kills from there to help Loyola take a 2-0 lead in the match. 

Point got off to a better start in the third frame, notching a 5-2 edge in the early going. A 10-0 run by the Wolf Pack erased any chance of a comeback with Ellie Connor serving a pair of aces during that stretch, while Peixe, Hollingsworth, Guillotte, and Palmer earned kills, 12-5. Loyola cruised from that point forward to win the road conference matchup.
 

Pack Facts

• With 17 assists Friday night, Ellie Connor passed the 1,500 assist mark in her Wolf Pack career. The junior now has 1,505 total assists. She also had nine digs and two service aces Friday.

• Ivana De Carvalho Peixe was nearly perfect in attack, with all but two of her 11 attacks falling for kills. Her nine kills on a .727 hitting percentage was the most efficient attacking performance for any Wolf Pack hitter this season. She also has the second best (.692) vs. UT Southern on Oct. 3. 

• With seven kills in 19 attempts with only one error, Clarissa Dupree hit over .300 for the third match in a row, as well as the sixth time in the last seven matches. 

• Alexa Palmer (8 kills) and Isis Harink (6 kills) both hit .250 on Friday, with Palmer leading the charge early in the match with six kills in Set 1. 

• Katy Hollingsworth had her second match in a row registering five kills. It only took her eight attempts Friday as she hit .500 for the match. 

• Harink, Connor, Kala Emanuelli, and Lola Blancher each served two aces in Friday's match. 

• While the Wolf Pack's hitting percentage was a solid .294, the Skyhawks turned in the worst percentage for any opponent this year (.054) with just 19 kills and 24 attacking errors. Loyola has held Point to a negative hitting percentage in both matchups this year. 

• With the win, Loyola has secured a 20-win season for the fourth time in the last five years. 

• Robert Pitre joins Greg Castillo (1996) and Tommy Harold (2003) as the only coaches to win at least 20 matches in their first season as head coach of Loyola's volleyball program.