Wolf Pack will travel to take on William Carey University on Oct. 10 at 7:00 p.m.
Coming off a sweep of Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) opponent Martin Methodist College yesterday, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned to First NBC Court Saturday morning to square off against Bethel University.
The visiting Wildcats (14-4, 8-2 SSAC) proved too much for the Wolf Pack on Saturday, as Loyola dropped the 1-3 decision at home to fall to 10-14 overall and 5-5 in the SSAC.
The first set saw both teams exchanging blows with neither able to build a confortable lead. With the score 19-17 in favor of the visitors, Bethel strung together three-straight points to give it the largest lead of the set at 22-17. The Wildcats were able to keep a cushion of at least four points for the remainder of the set to take the opening frame 25-20.
Bethel raced out to an early six-point lead to start the second set, but the Wolf Pack – powered by Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) – managed to fight their way back to knot the set at 16-16. The Wildcats ended the set on a 9-4 run to claim the set 25-20 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Loyola managed to turn things around in the third set - building a sizable 17-10 advantage. The visitors were able to cut the deficit to just three (20-17), but the Wolf Pack refused to surrender the set and claimed victory 25-21 to bring the match score to 1-2.
With the match on the line, Bethel scored the first point in the fourth set and never surrendered the lead again to take the fourth frame 25-20 and the match 3-1.
Overall, Loyola recorded a .281 (53-17-123) attack percentage with 45 assists, 49 digs and six blocks.
Hartmann led the way for the Wolf Pack with 16 kills on 33 total attacks (.424) to go along with two blocks. Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, In.) dished out 25 helpers and seven digs in the loss while Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) scooped up a team-high 16 digs off the bench. Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.) added 14 kills and two digs and Sunni Blanchard (FR/Pierre Part, La.) chipped in 17 assists on Saturday.
For Bethel, Eliosa Sales collected a match-high 19 kills and Kaylee Ginnings handed out 43 assists in the victory.
Loyola will travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi on Oct. 10 to take on SSAC opponent William Carey College at 7:00 p.m.
