Wolf Pack sweep the Knights in final home match of the season.
The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team capped off a three-match home stand on Sunday morning by welcoming Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) opponent Middle Georgia State University for match at First NBC Court.
In its last home match of the 2016 season, the Wolf Pack swept the Knights 3-0 (25-15,25-22,25-15) to improve to 14-19 overall and 8-10 in conference play.
Up 10-5 in the opening set, Loyola used kills by Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) and Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) - with some Middle Georgia State errors – to score four-unanswered points to stretch the advantage to 14-5. The home team got its first double-digit lead of the morning after Huekels recorded a kill from an assist by Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) to make the score 21-11. The Wolf Pack was able to maintain a comfortable lead for the rest of the set to grab the opening frame 25-15.
Loyola's aggressive __play carried over to the second set, with the Wolf Pack jumping out to a 12-4 advantage to start the set. The Knights were able to cut the deficit to just three, 23-20, but Loyola managed to hold on thanks to Middle Georgia State errors to claim set two 25-22.
With Huekels serving, Loyola started the third set on a 6-0 run. The lead would balloon to as large as 14 points before the home team was just a single point away at 24-11. The Knights showed some fight down the stretch with a 4-0 run but a service error on the final __play would stop the spurt to Loyola the set victory and the sweep.
The Wolf Pack tallied a 0.276 (40-13-98) hitting percentage with 32 assists, 44 digs and six blocks on Sunday morning.
Hartmann and Beckham both collected nine kills in the victory, with Hartmann adding an impressive six blocks in the process. Huekels handed out a team-high 20 helpers against the Knights while Anna Katherine Brunini (SO/Madison, Miss.) scooped up 13 digs off the bench.
The Knights' Brooklyn Berrington led all players with 10 kills and Jamie Wilder gave out a match-high 22 helpers in the loss.
Loyola travels to take on Martin Methodist on Friday, Nov. 4, with first serve set for 7:00 p.m.
