Volleyball advances to SSAC Championship title match

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team had its back against the wall in the semifinal round of the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship on Friday. Trailing 2-1 against Blue Mountain Christian, the Wolf Pack won the final two sets to advance to Saturday's title match against Mobile. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. 
 

Loyola beat Life University (Ga.) earlier in the day to wrap up pool play with a 3-0 record. 
 

#2 Loyola 3, #4 Blue Mountain Christian 2 (23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-12, 15-8)
After Blue Mountain won a close first set, the Wolf Pack evened the match by hitting .225 in the second set with 15 kills. The Toppers started the set with a 4-0 run, eventually taking a 6-1 advantage before Loyola put together a run to tie it at 8-all. Katy Hollingsworth got a 9-2 run started with a kill, and attacks by Isis Harink and Ivana De Carvalho Peixe got the deficit to one, 8-7. Peixe broke the tie and Lola Blancher gave the Wolf Pack the lead. The set would see ties at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 until a kill by Harink gave Loyola the lead for good. The was part of a 5-0 run that featured two blocks by Harink and Peixe, then Hollingsworth racked up three more blocks later in the game to close out the second-set win. 
 

After BMCU went back up in the match, 2-1, the first 21 points of the fourth set were extremely close. The final 16 points, however, were dominated by Loyola. There were six ties and two lead changes until Loyola won four out of five points to take a 10-7 lead. The Toppers scored two straight to get within one, but the Pack had a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 23-10. Alexa Palmer started that run with a kill, and Belén Puche Laguna served an ace. Then Clarissa Dupree recorded a solo block before Peixe capped off the run with three kills. 
 

Dupree had the hot hand in the fifth set, racking up four kills to give Loyola a commanding 7-3 lead. A cross-court kill by Peixe kept the momentum on Loyola's side, 10-4, and she added another to make it an 11-5 advantage. Back-to-back blocks for Palmer and Hollingsworth gave Loyola 13 points, then Dupree fittingly finished things off with another kill. 
 

#2 Loyola 3, #7 Life 0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-21)
In a game that didn't affect Loyola's standing in the tournament, the Wolf Pack handled Life University in three sets to start the day. 
 

Palmer had three kills in the early going to the first set to help Loyola get out to an early lead, 5-2, and Samantha Guillotte and Dupree each picked up two kills later in the set to maintain the lead, 15-8. Life battled back to tie the game, 16-16, but two errors by the Running Eagles and a kill by Palmer kept the score in Loyola's favor. The Running Eagles tied it again, 24-24, but again, Loyola fought them off by getting two kills from Dupree and an ace by Laguna to take a 1-0 lead in the match. 
 

Life took an early lead in the second set, but four straight points put the Wolf Pack on top, 11-10. Ellie Connor had two aces during that quick run. The Running Eagles briefly took another lead, then a kill by Dupree put Loyola ahead for good, 15-14. Peixe, Hollingsworth and Guillotte had three straight kills, and Blancher served an ace to create some separation, 21-16. Zoe Barnes had an ace down the stretch to help Loyola finish off the set. 
 

The third set was close throughout with eight ties before Loyola pushed ahead for good after it was 20-all. The Wolf Pack won four straight points to set up set point and the sweep of the match. 
 

Pack Facts

• Loyola's 28 victories this season match the second-highest win total in program history, equaling the mark set in 2012, 2007, and 2002.

• Belén Puche Laguna posted a new career high with 27 assists, leading all players in the win against Blue Mountain. She also had a team-high of 16 assists to go along with nine digs and three aces in the Life match. 

• Kala Emanuelli recorded 26 digs in the Blue Mountain match after seven earlier the day against Life, adding two aces in each match. She's now had at least 25 digs in four of the last five contests and at least two aces in eight consecutive matches. 

• Puche's 82 service aces this season are the fifth-most by any player in a season in program history. Emanuelli is also now in the top 10 in single-season aces with 69 total.

• Clarissa Dupree has posted double-digit kills in all four matches so far in the tournament. She had 10 kills and three blocks in the three-setter against Life, followed by a match-high 14 kills while hitting .444 in the semifinal. 

• Ivana De Carvalho Peixe had one of her best attacking performances of the season, 13 kills in 24 attempts with no errors against Blue Mountain (.542) 

• Two other Wolf Pack attackers reached double-digit kills in the semifinal: Alexa Palmer (12) and Samantha Guillotte (11). Palmer also had eight kills against Life, while Guillotte had seven. 

• Isis Harink was right behind those two with nine kills and five blocks. Katy Hollingsworth led the team in blocks with six total, adding six kills as well. 

• Ellie Connor had 23 assists in the Blue Mountain match after 15 against Life earlier in the day. She's reached at least 20 assists in 10 different matches this season. 

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, 3-011:30 | 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 def. No. 8 Faulkner, 3-1
11:00 | Court 2 | No. 2 Loyola def. No. 7 Life, 3-0
1:30 | Court 1 | No. 4 Blue Mountain def. No. 5 UT Southern, 3-1
1:30 | Court 2 | No. 6 Point def. No. 3 William Carey, 3-1
5:30 | Court 1 | Semifinal | Mobile def. Point, 3-0
5:30 | Court 2 | Semifinal | Loyola def. Blue Mountain, 3-2

Day 3 | Nov. 15
2:00 | Court 1 | Mobile v. Loyola

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