Huekels hands out 29 assists while Beckham collects 20 kills in the SSAC victory.
Coming off a bye week, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned to the court on Monday evening against Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) opponent William Carey University.
Despite jumping out to a 2-0 advantage in Hattiesburg, Loyola (11-14, 6-5 SSAC) would need five sets to dispel the Lady Crusaders (6-13, 4-7 SSAC) on Monday. Powered by career numbers from Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) and Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.), the Wolf Pack defeated William Carey 3-2 (18-25,18-25,25-21,25-17,12-15) to earn a pivotal league victory.
The first set saw both teams battle to a 6-6 tie before the Wolf Pack strung together a 7-2 run to take the 13-8 advantage. Loyola was able to keep William Carey at a safe distance for the remainder of the set and two back-to-back kills by Huekels gave the visitors the 25-18 victory.
A handful of errors by the Lady Crusaders helped the Wolf Pack take the early 7-2 lead in the second set. William Carey was able to come back and cut the deficit to just three at 20-17 before kills by Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.), Beckham and Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) sealed the 25-18 win in the second frame.
Threatened with the possibility of getting swept, William Carey took the next two sets to knot the match at 2-2.
The deciding set was tied up at 9-9 before the Wolf Pack strung together five-straight points – highlighted by two kills from Lindsey Ulfig – to grab the 14-9 advantage in the final frame. William Carey cut the score to 14-12 before Ulfig shut the door with a kill off an assist from Huekels to give Loyola the 15-12 win in the set and the 3-2 victory in the match.
The Wolf Pack recorded a 0.245 (60-24-147) hitting percentage with 51 assists, 51 digs and six blocks on Monday night.
Individually, Beckham led the Wolf Pack with a career-high 20 kills on 33 attempts. Huekels paired a career-high 29 assists with 10 kills and five digs while Hartmann chipped in 13 kills and three blocks in the win. Sunni Blanchard (FR/Pierre Part, La.) added 16 assists against the Lady Crusaders and Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) scooped up 13 digs off the bench.
Chassidy Harris recorded 19 kills for William Carey and Mikaela Hall handed out a game-high 46 assists in the loss.
The Wolf Pack will welcome Tougaloo College to First NBC Court for a non-conference match on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 6:00 p.m.
