Volleyball goes 2-0 during Day 1 at SSAC Championship

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team entered this week's Southern States Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship as the No. 2 seed, and the Wolf Pack started pool play on Thursday with wins over No. 6 Point University (Ga.) and No. 2 William Carey (Miss.). The Pack needed five sets in their tournament opener against the Skyhawks, but handed the Crusaders a loss in four sets. 
 

Loyola will wrap up pool play on Friday with an 11 a.m. matchup against No. 7 seed Life University (Ga.). The Running Eagles went 0-2 on Thursday. The Wolf Pack has already advanced to the semifinal round, and they'll play later in the day at 5:30 p.m.
 

#2 Loyola 3, #6 Point 2 (20-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11)

The Wolf Pack dropped the first and third sets in their SSAC Championship opener Thursday morning, but they dominated the second and fourth sets to force the deciding fifth. 
 

Kills by Samantha Guillotte, Clarissa Dupree and Katy Hollingsworth helped Loyola get off to a 6-1 start in the second game, then back-to-back attacks by Guillotte made it a 12-4 lead. Guillotte continued to find the floor, and Ivana De Carvalho Peixe had a couple of kills later in the set. Ellie Connor and Lola Blancher each had a couple of service aces down the stretch to even the match, 1-1.
 

After Point won the third set, three straight kills by Alexa Palmer, Guillotte and Peixe led to Loyola starting the fourth set strong. Dupree collected another kill, Kala Emanuelli served an ace, and Lily Clemmer-Gillum had two kills in three points to extend the advantage to 11-4. The Skyhawks trimmed into Loyola's lead, 16-12, but the Pack pushed back ahead with a 7-2 run that was powered by attacks from Peixe, Dupree and Palmer, an ace by Blancher, and a block by Palmer and Clemmer-Gillum. Palmer and Guillotte tallied kills for Loyola's final two points. 
 

Point started the fifth set with a 3-1 lead, however, Loyola won six straight points to grab momentum, 7-3. Dupree found the floor on three consecutive points during that run. The two teams went back and forth from there, resulting in a 10-7 Wolf Pack lead. Guillotte took over from there with four more kills and a block to seal the win. 
 

#2 Loyola 3, #3 William Carey 1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19)

After dropping the first set, the Wolf Pack won the next three to start 2-0 in pool play. Loyola fell into an early hole in the second set, 5-2, but kills by Dupree and Guillotte got the game tied, 5-5. The two teams continued to exchange the lead until WCU built a 19-16 advantage. Connor got the service line and recorded an ace to tie the set, 20-20, and another ace by the junior capped off a 5-0 run that saw Loyola take a 23-20 lead. Guillotte and Palmer each had kills, which were assisted by Connor to even the match, 1-1. 
 

Guillotte, Palmer, and Dupree all had kills in the early going of the third set, and Clemmer-Gillum notched a block, but William Carey kept battling to stay close to the Wolf Pack. Leading 16-14, Zoe Barnes had three aces during a 5-0 run to extend the advantage to seven, 21-14, and two kills by Palmer helped close out the set and give the Wolf Pack the 2-1 lead in the match. 
 

The Crusaders started the fourth set well, 6-1, but a 5-0 run for Loyola quickly evened the game. An ace by Belén Puche Laguna broke a 7-7 tie a couple of points later, as Loyola extended its lead to 11-7. From there, Loyola kept a multi-point lead, eventually making it a 22-14 score thanks to two kills each by Palmer, Dupree and Guillotte. Guillotte's team-high 18th kill ended the match. 
 

Pack Facts

• Samantha Guillotte had a career day to help propel the Pack to two wins. She had 24 kills and hit .391 in the match against Point, and later hit .500 with 18 kills against William Carey.

• Guillotte's 24 kills were the most in a match for any Wolf Pack player since the 2012 volleyball season, when Sabrina Stansberry had 25 kills against Belhaven on Sept. 25, 2012. 

• Clarissa Dupree also had a new career high in the Point match, racking up 15 kills, including four that helped the Pack take the lead in the fifth set. She followed with 11 kills with only two errors in the second match of the day. 

• Alexa Palmer hit a new career high in the Carey match, collecting 17 kills on a .500 hitting percentage. She also had 13 kills in the Point match. 

• Ellie Connor matched career high with 28 assists, a number she hit in last year's SSAC Championship. She was stellar in both matches, logging 27 assists against the Crusaders. 

• Belén Puche Laguna went over 20 assists in both matches, with 22 against Point and 20 against Carey. 

• Kala Emanuelli had at least 25 digs in each match, with 25 against Point and 26 against Carey. The senior's dig total is now an even 600 this season, which ranks as the seventh most in any season in Wolf Pack history. 

• As a team, Loyola has now served double-digit aces in each of the last six matches. Serving was again a focus on Thursday, as the Pack had 12 aces against Point and 11 more against Carey. Zoe Barnes had her best serving game of the year with six against Carey. Juliet Petruzelli led the team with four aces against Point, while Lola Blancher had three. Emanuelli and Connor each had a pair of aces in both matches on Thursday.

SSAC Championship Schedule

Pool A: #1 Mobile, #4 Blue Mountain, #5 UT Southern, #8 Faulkner
Pool B: #2 Loyola, #3 William Carey, #6 Point, #7 Life

Day 1 | Nov. 13
9:00 | Court 1 | No. 1 Mobile def. No. 5 UT Southern, 3-1
9:00 | Court 2 | No. 2 Loyola def. No. 6 Point, 3-2
11:30 | Court 1 | No. 4 Blue Mountain def. No. 8 Faulkner, 3-0
11:30 | Court 2 | No. 3 William Carey def. No. 7 Life, 3-0
2:00 | Court 1 | No. 5 UT Southern def. No. 8 Faulkner, 3-0
2:00 | Court 2 | No. 6 Point def. No. 7 Life, 3-0
4:30 | Court 1 | No. 1 Mobile def. No. 4 Blue Mountain, 3-1
4:30 | Court 2 | No. 2 Loyola def. No. 3 William Carey, 3-1

Day 2 | Nov. 14
11:00 | Court 1 | No. 1 Mobile (2-0) v. No. 8 Faulkner (0-2)
11:00 | Court 2 | No. 2 Loyola (2-0) v. No. 7 Life (0-2)
1:30 | Court 1 | No. 4 Blue Mountain (1-1)  v. No. 5 UT Southern (1-1)
1:30 | Court 2 | No. 3 William Carey (1-1) v. No. 6 Point (1-1)
5:30 | Court 1 | Semifinal | Mobile v. Pool B #2
5:30 | Court 2 | Semifinal | Loyola v. Pool A #2
 

Day 3 | Nov. 15
2:00 | Court 1 | Championship