Loyola upsets No. 9 St. Thomas, goes 2-0 Saturday

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – The Loyola Wolf Pack will head back to New Orleans with a signature win, as they finished off a 4-1 road trip in Florida with two wins on Saturday. First, the Pack swept Park University Gilbert (Ariz.) before taking down No. 9 St. Thomas in four sets during the final day of Florida College's Labor Day Classic. 
 

After three weeks of non-conference action, Loyola (9-4) is now set to start Southern States Athletic Conference play on Saturday against Point University (Ga.). The two will match up in The Den at 1 p.m.
 

Loyola 3, Park Gilbert 0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-14)
Park got off to a good start by taking an 11-4 lead over the Wolf Pack, but Alexa Palmer and Lola Blancher helped get Loyola back to within two, 11-9. Palmer recorded a kill and a block with Katy Hollingsworth, and Blancher served an ace. The Buccaneers pushed back ahead, 15-9, but six errors by Park and another kill by Palmer tied the game at 16-16. The two teams went back and forth until Loyola won the last three points thanks to a block from Isis Harink and Zoe Barnes and an ace by Juliet Petruzelli.  
 

Park got off to another good start, 4-2, but after the Pack tied it with two straight points, three kills by Palmer, a kill each from Ivana De Carvalho Peixe and Harink, and an ace by Belén Puche Laguna gave Loyola the lead, 12-9. The game was tied five times, leading to the score reading 19-19. Zoe Barnes, Harink and Peixe all recorded attacks to help Loyola take a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 

Once again, Park had the advantage in the early going of the set, taking a 10-6 lead. The Wolf Pack used a 12-0 run to take control of the set, 19-11, and that was powered by two kills from Barnes and three aces by Puche. Clarissa Dupree and Hollingsworth added kills, and Petruzelli and Kala Emanuelli served aces to help close out the match. 
 

Loyola 3, #9 St. Thomas 1 (25-27, 25-21, 25-20, 25-13)
After missing out on a set-point opportunity and losing the first set, the Wolf Pack didn't let the opportunity slip away in the second set to even the match. They fought out of an early hole, tying the second set at 6-6, 9-9, and 10-10 before pushing ahead for good. A block by Hollingsworth and kills from Palmer, Peixe, and Dupree made the score 17-14, then after a brief run for Bobcats, a combination of Blancher, Peixe, and Puche helped put the game away. 
 

The two teams went back and forth in the first half of the third set, but a kill by Harink and a ton of St. Thomas errors led to Loyola leading 17-15. Palmer and Blancher gave the Wolf Pack some cushion, 20-15, and Harink found the floor for the final point to put Loyola ahead 2-1 in the match. 
 

The fourth set was dominated by Loyola. A block by Harink and Barnes, and kills from Peixe and Barnes allowed Loyola to take a quick 5-0 lead, followed by three more kills by Peixe and an ace from Emanuelli, 10-4. After the Bobcats made a slight run, 14-10, Loyola won the next seven points to extend the advantage to 21-10. St. Thomas was never a threat after that.  
 

Pack Facts

• Belén Puche Laguna has continued to be one of the NAIA's top servers this season. Registering five service aces against Park Gilbert and seven more against St. Thomas, she's now up to an NAIA-leading 43 aces this season. 

• Kala Emanuelli has kept up her streak of double-digit digs in every match this season, with 15 against Park Gilbert and 16 against St. Thomas. The senior libero has averaged 5.0 digs per set this season and leads the NAIA with 251 total digs.

• Emanuelli is also second on the team with 24 service aces, with Juliet Petruzelli checking in at third with 19 aces. 

• Ivana De Carvalho Peixe has produced four matches of 10+ kills this season, and three of those matches came in this weekend's tournament. She finished off the weekend with 14 kills while hitting .333 against St. Thomas for a total of 44 kills across Friday and Saturday's matches. 

• Alexa Palmer dropped eight kills in the first match on Saturday and nine kills in the second, hitting above .200 in each match. 

• Heading into conference play, freshman Isis Harink leads the team in kills with 109 after posting eight kills and a team-high five blocks in the St. Thomas match. Palmer follows closely behind with 107 total kills through the team's first 13 matches. 

• Loyola's defense was consistent throughout the weekend, holding all four opponents to under a .100 hitting percentage: Florida College (.032), Warner (.041), Park-Gilbert (.058), and St. Thomas (.096).

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