MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Saturday's match against Brewton-Parker Christian got off to a rough start for the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team, but the Wolf Pack came back to win a tight four-setter 3-1 (16-25, 26-24, 25-14, 32-30) to continue to hold a lead in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings. 

Loyola (13-7, 6-1 SSAC) will now return to New Orleans for a four-match home stand, beginning with conference newcomers Andrew College on Friday, Oct. 9. That match is scheduled for 6 p.m., with another SSAC match to follow Saturday as the Wolf Pack hosts Faulkner. 

Brewton-Parker controlled the opening set after the teams played to a 4-4 tie. The Barons pulled ahead 14-7 and later stretched the advantage to 18-9, and while Loyola cut the deficit to six late in the frame, Brewton-Parker scored the final three points to take the set 25-16.

In the second set, Brewton-Parker again steadily built a big lead, as the Barons pulled ahead 17-12 before Loyola's first timeout. But Loyola was able to close the gap after the timeout, eventually tying the set at 19-19 on a kill from Isis Harink. Alexa Palmer gave the Pack its first lead at 20-19 on a kill from the right side. Smith later served an ace and Harink added another kill to give the Pack set point at 24-22. BPCU called a timeout and was able to tie the set at 24-all, but Loyola responded with two straight points, as Palmer had another kill and Alcorn and Clarissa Dupree combined for a set-winning block. 

Loyola carried that momentum into the third set, racing out to a 6-1 lead and forcing an early Brewton-Parker timeout. The break did little to slow the Pack, as Smith served an ace before Alcorn teamed up with Palmer and Dupree for back-to-back blocks. The surge pushed Loyola's advantage to 10-1 before the Barons finally ended the run. Loyola pushed its lead to as much as 13 points at 16-3 after an ace from Belén Puche Laguna prompted another BPCU timeout. The Barons strung together some points to cut the Wolf Pack lead to single digits at 21-13, but the Pack scored four of the final five points of the frame, and a kill from Caroline McKinney shut the door on Set 3 at 25-14. 

Brewton-Parker held a narrow lead for much of the fourth set, but Loyola stayed within striking distance throughout. The Barons eventually took a 24-21 lead, putting Loyola on the brink of a fifth set. Brewton-Parker then missed its next serve, and Smith and Alcorn followed with kills to tie the set at 24-24 and extend the frame. From there, the teams traded the next 12 points, battling through ties at 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Brewton-Parker held another set point at 30-29, but a service error evened the score once again. Loyola finally broke through when Dupree and Harink teamed up for a block to make it 31-30, and Harink and Caroline McKinney combined for another block on the next point to seal the 32-30 win and the match. 

Pack Facts

• Loyola improved to 29-0 in its all-time series against Brewton-Parker dating back to the 2001 season. 

• Clarissa Dupree turned in her best attacking performance of the season: 13 kills on 25 attempts with zero attacking errors for a .520 hitting percentage. This is her first time hitting at least .500 in back-to-back matches in her collegiate career. 

• Tyler Alcorn set a new season high with eight blocks, with one solo block and seven assisted blocks. 

• Lola Blancher led Loyola with 19 digs, extending her streak of double-digit dig performances to 11 straight matches.

• Ellie Connor led all players with 23 assists, adding eight digs as well. Belén Puche Laguna and Ava Labat each also contributed seven assists, with all seven of Labat's assists coming in the final set. 

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