BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss.  – After having a nine-match winning streak snapped last night, the Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team got back in the win column Saturday with a 3-1 victory (25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18) over Blue Mountain Christian University. 

The Wolf Pack (17-8, 10-2) will now return home for the final four matches of the regular season, starting with Loyola's Senior Day matchup against crosstown rival Xavier at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30. 

The opening set was tied at 3-3 before the Wolf Pack scored five straight points, highlighted by kills from Alexa Palmer and Isis Harink and a service ace by Clarissa Dupree, to take an 8-3 lead. Blue Mountain Christian fought back, cutting Loyola's lead to 13-11, but the Pack maintained its advantage. With Loyola in front 16-14, Palmer and Harink recorded back-to-back kills to spark another five-point run, pushing the lead to 21-14. The Toppers scored four of the next seven points, but Palmer put the finishing touches on the set with her fourth kill to give Loyola a 25-18 win.

Blue Mountain Christian jumped out to a 7-2 lead to begin the second set, and the Toppers continued to build on that lead, going ahead 13-6 to force a Loyola timeout. The Wolf Pack struggled to close the gap, needing another timeout at 19-11. Loyola came out of the timeout with four straight points, including a kill from Olivia Smith and two from Palmler, but BMCU scored six of the final nine points to take the set 25-18 and even the match at 1-1.

The third set was more tightly contested early, as BMCU took a 6-3 lead before Loyola battled back to tie it at 7-7. Kills from Mel Beachnau and Caroline McKinney and an ace from Ellie Connor gave the Pack a 10-8 advantage, but the Toppers kept pace, tying the score again at 12-12. Loyola then scored six of the next seven points, including kills from Harink, Dupree and Smith, and an ace from Belén Puche Laguna, to take an 18-13 lead. BMCU responded with three straight points to make it 18-16, but the Wolf Pack held on to the lead. A McKinney kill and a service ace by Smith pushed Loyola ahead 23-18, and McKinney eventually closed out the 25-19 set win with another kill to put Loyola up 2-1 in the match.

The Toppers started the fourth set with a 7-3 lead, but the Wolf Pack responded well to the early adversity, going on a 6-1 run to regain the advantage at 9-8. The teams continued to trade points until a kill by Harink and two straight service aces by Lola Blancher gave Loyola a 16-13 lead. The Toppers still hung around, eventually tying the score at 18-18, but from there, Loyola rattled off seven consecutive points to run away with the set and close the match with a 3-1 victory. 

Pack Facts

• The win was Loyola's 10th in Southern States Athletic Conference play this year, and the Pack's conference win total has now reached double digits in six of the last seven seasons. 

• Isis Harink put together a complete stat line, totaling a match-high 14 kills with four blocks and seven digs. 

• Mel Beachnau put up 12 kills, her highest kill total in a four-set match this year, while only committing one attacking error. 

• Olivia Smith also got it done on both sides of the ball, posting season highs in both kills (8) and digs (14), plus a block and an ace. 

• Alexa Palmer also had eight kills, all of which came in the first two sets. 

• Clarissa Dupree was one of three Wolf Pack players with at least 10 digs, recording a stat line of seven kills, 13 digs, one assist, and one service ace. 

• Ellie Connor led all players with 27 assists, her highest assist total since Sept. 5. 

• Belén Puche Laguna also was in double figures in assists with 15. 

• Lola Blancher finished with a match-high 27 digs, her highest dig total in any of the Wolf Pack's SSAC matches. 

Subscribe to Pack Tracks, a Loyola Athletics Newsletter, for all of the latest information >> https://loyolawolfpack.com/subscribe.aspx. You can also keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.