Volleyball wins first SSAC matchup to extend win streak to five

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team returned to The Den on Saturday, facing off with Point (Ga.) in its first Southern States Athletic Conference match of the season. The Wolf Pack dominated the Skyhawks in the league match en route to a three-set win.
 

Loyola will return to SSAC action for two matches next week, starting with a Friday night matchup at Mobile and concluding the weekend with a game at Faulkner on Saturday.
 

Loyola scored the first four points of the match, starting with a kill from Alexa Palmer. After a Point error, Zoe Barnes found the floor. Ivana De Carvalho Peixe and Isis Harink combined for a block to set up the four-point advantage. After Barnes earned another kill, Juliet Petruzelli notched an ace, 7-3. In her return to the floor, Samantha Guillotte got a kill, then Palmer and Katy Hollingsworth each found the floor 11-7. After Harink brought the match back to a four-point edge, 15-11, the Wolf Pack scored seven straight points, including four more aces by Petruzelli, 22-11. Guillotte closed the first set out with two more kills, 25-16.
 

After some back-and-forth play to start the second set, a kill from Harink started a 20-point run for the Pack. Kala Emanuelli collected two aces during that stretch with De Carvalho Peixe, Guillotte, and Hollingsworth combining for eight kills and four blocks. 
 

Point took a lead to start the third set, 4-2, but seven straight points put the Pack back in front. Palmer started the run with a kill, then De Carvalho Peixe got three kills, before Harink ended the run with another point, 9-4. After Point got within two, the Wolf Pack extended its advantage, including a kill by Ellie Connor, 16-9. The Skyhawks made the third set close, 21-18, but Guillotte and Lily Clemmer-Gillum sent the Pack to match point, each getting kills. Loyola scored the final point to take the match, 25-20.
 

Pack Facts

• As a team, Loyola produced its best hitting percentage of the season, .345 for the match, helped by a blistering .667 clip in the 25-4 second set. The Wolf Pack also held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage for the first time this season, with Point finishing at -.012.

• In her triumphant return to the court, Samantha Guillotte saw the floor well for a match-high nine kills. She also only committed two attacking errors for a .350 hitting percentage, which is the second best in any match of her collegiate career. 

• Juliet Petruzelli served a career-high five aces, all of which came in the first set, including four aces in a row which were part of a huge 8-0 run to help Loyola go up 1-0 in the match. 

• Kala Emanuelli served for 19 consecutive points as part of the Wolf Pack's second-set run. She finished with two aces and eight assists in the match plus 15 digs, a match high. 

• Isis Harink led the team in hitting percentage (.545) with seven kills in just 11 tries with only one error. 

• Ivana De Carvalho Peixe had her most efficient match of the season, hitting .462 while collecting eight kills with just two errors, plus four blocks. She's now at five matches in a row with seven or more kills. 

• Katy Hollingsworth was a strong presence at the net, totaling five kills and a match-high five blocks while hitting .444 for the match. 

• Belén Puche Laguna averaged over six assists per set, finishing with a match-high 19 assists, plus four digs. 

• Ellie Connor registered seven assists in the match, including one on the final point that got her over 1,300 assists for her college career.