NEW ORLEANS – The Wolf Pack volleyball team did what they needed to do Friday night. Loyola beat William Carey in four sets in The Den to stay alive for the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season title, and it'll host first-place Mobile at 1 p.m. on Saturday for the crown. 
 

Loyola is 20-8 overall and 13-2 in SSAC play with 38 points. Mobile is 26-4 overall and 13-2 in SSAC play with 40 points. The Wolf Pack must beat the Rams in three or four sets in order to win the regular season title and be the No. 1 seed in next week's SSAC Championship. The Pack defeated Mobile in five sets on the road in their first matchup this season as well. 
 

Loyola scored the first three points of the match behind kills from Alexa Palmer and Isis Harink. The Pack fought off multiple ties in the early going thanks to attacks by Mel Beachnau and Caroline McKinney. Tyler Alcorn registered a kill and a block after that, then Palmer found the floor three more times, 13-10. Loyola went on a 9-3 run to really grab control, as McKinney led the team with two kills during that stretch, 22-15. Belén Puche Laguna finished things off a couple of points later with a service ace. 
 

William Carey won the first point of the second set, but it was all Loyola after that. The Wolf Pack won seven of the game's next nine points to take a 9-3 lead. Back-to-back aces by Ellie Connor made it a 12-4 advantage, and consecutive kills by Palmer pushed the lead to 10, 16-6. The two teams traded points from there, as blocks by Alcorn, Palmer, and Clarissa Dupree highlighted the end of the set for Loyola. 
 

Loyola faced adversity when William Carey won the third set to extend the match. The Wolf Pack came out of the gates in the fourth set hot, though, with kills by Dupree and Harink, 4-1. WCU was able to take a 9-7 lead, but attacks from Palmer and Alcorn, then a block for Alcorn and Dupree, put Loyola back in front, 10-9. The two teams traded points all the way to 20-19 until Palmer had two more kills to help make it a 23-20 game. An attack error by the Crusaders and an attack by Harink finished off the match. 
 

Pack Facts

• The Wolf Pack won their 20th match of the season, and that's the 17th time the program has reached that total since the inaugural season in 1994. 

• The win over the Crusaders was Loyola's fourth straight in the series. The longest streak for the Pack against WCU is five straight during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. 

• Loyola is 7-0 in four-set matches this season. 

• Lola Blancher had 17 digs in the match to bring her season total to 509. She needs 25 more to crack into the program's Top 10 for digs in a season. 

• Belén Puche Laguna earned her 12th career double-double with 15 assists and 11 digs. 

• Olivia Smith tied her season-high in digs with 14. It was the third time this season she's reached that total, and the 13th time the freshman has hit double digits. 

• Ellie Connor had a season-high three service aces to go along with her 18 assists and nine digs. 

• Tyler Alcorn's seven blocks led the team and tied her season-high. 

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