FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team closed out its season-opening tournament Saturday against two more strong opponents, Rio Grande (Ohio) and No. 17 Aquinas (Mich.). The Pack came back from down two sets to play a five-set thriller against Rio Grande, eventually falling 3-2, before dropping the Aquinas match, its third ranked opponent of the weekend, 3-0. 

The Wolf Pack (1-3) will return home to host next week's Wolf Pack Welcome tournament, which begins Friday, August 28. Other Louisiana programs Dillard, SUNO, and Louisiana Christian will all take part. Loyola's first match of the weekend is against Dillard on Friday at 1:30 p.m. 

Rio Grande 3, Loyola 2 [25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 27-29, 17-15]

While the first two sets went to Rio Grande, the score was relatively close for most of the match. The opening set was 16-16 before the Red Storm pulled away. The second set also was tied at 16-all before five straight points by the Red Storm. A late scoring run pulled the Pack within a point at 23-22, but Rio Grande would eventually go up 2-0 on the scoreboard. 

After an early 6-2 advantage for the Red Storm in Set 3, neither team led by more than three points. Kills from Isis Harink, Mel Beachnau and Clarissa Dupree helped close the gap, then Ellie Connor set up Alexa Palmer for four kills to give Loyola a 14-12 lead. Rio Grande went back ahead 19-17 after a timeout, but kills by Beachnau and Caroline Beahm and two aces from Harink swung the momentum back in Loyola's direction at 21-19. With the score later tied at 22-22, another kill from Palmer started a 3-0 Wolf Pack run to finish the third set.

Rio Grande again jumped out to a big advantage in the fourth set, leading 12-6. Loyola gradually climbed back until an ace from Connor tied things up at 21-21. The teams traded points until a block from Beahm and Beachnau and a kill from Dupree finished off the set at 29-27.

The match seemed to be in the Wolf Pack's favor in the deciding set, with Beachnau, Olivia Smith, and Harink combining for four straight kills to begin the frame. Rio Grande steadily made a comeback, but Loyola still had two match points at 14-12. Rio Grande then won five of the next six points, fighting off another Loyola match point at 15-14, to close out the win. 

#17 Aquinas 3, Loyola 0 [25-19, 25-19, 25-16]

Loyola got off to a solid start, with Isis Harink kills accounting for the team's first three points in a 4-1 opening. The Saints quickly took control with five straight points, however. Loyola's last lead would come at 9-8 after an Alexa Palmer kill. She had three more kills shortly after, but Aquinas continued to build their lead as high as six points at 20-14. Loyola got within two points at 21-19, but Aquinas scored four straight to finish the set. 

Aquinas built an early advantage in Set 2, winning eight of the period's first 10 points. Loyola would eventually fight back to within four points at 22-18 after back-to-back kills from freshman Olivia Smith, but Aquinas closed out the set again 25-19.

Caroline Beahm tallied the first point of the third set with a kill, and Palmer added another to give the Wolf Pack an early 2-1 lead, but Aquinas again responded, going on a 6-0 scoring run to go up 7-2. The Saints led by at least four points for the remainder of the set to earn the 3-0 win. 

Pack Facts

• Alexa Palmer tallied double-digit kills in both matches Saturday, 14 against Rio Grande and 10 against Aquinas, 

• With a career-best 29 assists in the Rio Grande match, Belén Puche Laguna has eclipsed the 1,000-assist mark for her collegiate career and now has 1,015 total assists. 

• Ellie Connor notched her first double-double of the season, and ninth of her collegiate career, with 25 assists and 12 digs in the Rio Grande match. 

• Clarissa Dupree collected the first double-double of her career in the five-setter, totaling 13 kills and 10 digs plus three blocks. 

• Wolf Pack libero Lola Blancher led the team with 60 digs combined in this weekend's four matches, including a career-high 22 digs against Rio Grande Saturday. 

• Isis Harink nearly had a double-double with nine digs to go along with a team-high 15 kills in the Rio Grande match. She also served 10 aces over the weekend to lead the team. 

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