Volleyball wins at Faulkner Saturday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team hit the road for the first time in SSAC play this weekend, and it bounced back from Friday night's loss with a win over Faulkner on Saturday to go 1-1 on the road trip. 
 

The Wolf Pack (11-5, 2-1 in SSAC) returns to The Den for two Southern States Athletic Conference matches next week, first hosting Brewton-Parker at 6 p.m. on Friday before taking on Life University at 1 p.m. on Saturday. 
 

After squandering a lead in the first set, the Wolf Pack didn't let that happen during the next three sets. Loyola led by four points a couple of different times late in the opening game, and it even had a set point, 24-22, before the Eagles won the final four points to win the set. 
 

A couple of service aces by Lola Blancher helped get Loyola off to a 5-1 lead in the second, then consecutive attacks by Alexa Palmer and Clarissa Dupree broke a 5-5 tie. Two kills by Isis Harink and an ace by Belén Puche Laguna made it a 10-7 lead, then Ivana De Carvalho Peixe found the floor twice to maintain a four-point lead, 13-9. Faulkner trimmed the deficit to two, 18-16, but a quick 4-0 run for the Wolf Pack gave them the edge for good. 
 

The third set is similar to the second set, with the two teams trading points until Loyola pulled away to go ahead 2-1 in the match. Harink had a couple of kills in the early going to keep Loyola ahead by a couple of points, and Katy Hollingsworth got a kill to push the lead to 8-4. Faulkner was able to tie it, 10-10, and it even took a couple of leads until Samantha Guillotte got a kill and Ellie Connor served an ace to bring the score to a 15-15 game. From there, Loyola took advantage of Faulkner errors, followed by another kill by Hollingsworth and two aces by Kala Emanuelli to push the Wolf Pack ahead, 23-16. Harink and Pexie capped off the set for Loyola. 
 

The trend continued in the fourth set with the two teams trading points. Loyola spread its attack well, with Harink, Peixe, Guillotte, Hollingsworth and Dupree all collecting kills to bring the Loyola lead to 9-8. Puche recorded another ace, then Palmer recorded her first kill of the set to extend the advantage to 17-12. She would add another, and Harink added two more to bring her match-high total to 15. 
 

Pack Facts

• Isis Harink went off for 15 kills on a .478 hitting percentage, leading all attackers while adding a career-high seven blocks. Most of her kills came in the third and fourth sets, where she had five kills in each. 

• Ivana De Carvalho Peixe put up 12 kills in a match for the second time this season, finishing with a .304 hitting percentage and four blocks as well. 

• Alexa Palmer collected five kills in the first set alone, finishing with eight for the match with just two errors. 

• Katy Hollingsworth posted a new season high with seven kills on a .375 hitting percentage, committing just one attacking error.

• Samantha Guillotte also picked up seven kills (.294), continuing her streak of at least seven kills in every match this season. 

• Clarissa Dupree went for six kills and no errors in the match, hitting .300. 

• As a team, Loyola totaled 55 kills, the Wolf Pack's most in a 3- or 4-set match this season. 

• Both Wolf Pack setters played well in the match, combining for 46 total assists: Belén Puche Laguna had 26 total assists while Ellie Connor had 20. 

• Kala Emanuelli logged her sixth match this season with at least 20 digs, recording 21 digs against Faulkner.

• The Wolf Pack's 10 service aces as a team marked the eighth time this season the team has gotten to double digits in that category. Emanuelli and Lola Blancher each led all players with three aces each, Puche had two, and Connor and Juliet Petruzelli each had one ace. 

• This was Loyola's fifth win of the season in which the team rallied from down a set to take the match.