MOBILE, Ala. – After dropping the first two sets against the 2025 SSAC regular-season champion Mobile Rams, the Loyola Wolf Pack volleyball team came back to win a five-set thriller on Friday: 16-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-13. 

Loyola (8-7, 1-1 SSAC) will try to carry momentum from the win into a Saturday matchup at William Carey. Saturday's match will be the final stop on a stretch of eight matches away from The Den, with the Wolf Pack scheduled to face the Crusaders at 1 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 

Mobile built a big lead in the opening set on Friday, going up by as many as 10 points at 20-10. Loyola got within six points at 22-16, but the Rams closed out the set with three straight points to win 25-16. 

The second set started much closer than the first, with Mobile only leading 6-4 to start, but the Rams lead quickly grew to 14-6 before Loyola got back in it. A few errors from the Rams and kills from Isis Harink and Alexa Palmer got things back to a three-point game at 14-11. The Rams again pulled away, holding set point at 24-18 before the Pack made a late push but ultimately dropped the frame 25-21. 

Starting strong in Set 3, Loyola jumped out to an early 12-7 lead, prompting Mobile's first timeout of the match. The Rams responded after the timeout, scoring five straight points to tie the game at 12-12. Another Mobile timeout was called as the Pack surged ahead 20-16, and this time, Loyola stayed in front, winning the set 25-19. 

The Wolf Pack also held a lead for much of the fourth set, though Mobile got within one point at 16-15 to force Loyola into a timeout. The Pack jumped back ahead by four points at 20-16 before Mobile again started to come back, as another Loyola timeout was called with the Pack up 22-20. After the timeout, Mobile served a ball out, followed by a kill from Clarissa Dupree and another from Caroline McKinney to close out the set at 25-20. 

Loyola held a lead for most of the deciding set, with momentum favoring the Pack at 10-7. The Rams then scored two straight, causing a Wolf Pack timeout. Out of the timeout, Harink found the floor for a kill to make it 11-9, but Mobile bounced back with three straight points to take a 12-11 lead as Loyola took another timeout. Mobile only needed two points to finish the match at 13-12, but the Rams sent two balls out of play on consecutive points, giving the Wolf Pack a match point opportunity. Palmer and Tyler Alcorn combined on a block on the final point, closing out the set at 15-13 and securing the 3-2 win for the Pack.

Pack Facts

• Loyola came back to win from down 0-2 for the first time since September 2, 2023, in a 3-2 win against Central Methodist.

• Seven of Loyola's 15 matches this season have gone the distance this season, with Loyola having a 3-4 record in those five-set matches. 

• Caroline McKinney led the Wolf Pack with 14 kills, adding three digs and three blocks. 

• Isis Harink recorded 13 kills on a .344 hitting percentage while also posting team highs of three aces and seven blocks.  

• Alexa Palmer (11) and Tyler Alcorn (10) also reached double digits in kills while logging six blocks each. 

• This was the second match this season in which four Wolf Pack players had 10 or more kills. The other was the Rio Grande five-setter on August 22. 

• Lola Blancher led all players with 24 digs, while Olivia Smith also was in double figures in that category with 12. 

• Ellie Connor led the team with 22 assists, adding two aces, while Belén Puche Laguna had 20 assists and seven digs.

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