Wolf Pack now 13-19 overall and 7-10 in the SSAC.
Coming off a 3-0 sweep of Brewton-Parker College last night, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned to First NBC Court on Saturday morning to square off against (RV) College of Coastal Georgia.
Powered by three players with 10-plus kills, the Mariners (21-7, 14-3 SSAC) swept the Wolf Pack (13-19, 7-10 SSAC) 3-0 (17-25,20-25,19-25) in Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) action.
Coastal Georgia raced out to a comfortable 8-1 lead to start the opening set. Tylar Beckham collected back-to-back kills to bring the score to 8-3 before three-straight Mariners' kills put the visitors up 11-3. Up 16-10, Coastal Georgia strung together three unanswered points to stretch the advantage to 19-10. The Wolf Pack managed to outscore the Mariners 7-6 down the stretch but it would not be enough as Coastal Georgia grabbed the opening set 25-17.
A kill from Beatriz Agosto (FR/Miami, Fla.) off an assist by Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) kicked off the second set to put Loyola up 1-0. With the set knotted at one a piece, Coastal Georgia strung together a 5-1 spurt to take the early 6-2 advantage. With her team down 9-4, Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) collected two-straight kills to cut the deficit to 9-6 in the second set. With Coastal Georgia leading 17-13, Loyola put up three-straight scores to chip the lead down to just one at 17-16. A 7-2 run by the Mariners gave the visitors a 24-19 cushion late in the set which they were able to hold on to en route to the 25-20 win in set two.
The third set was the closest of the day, with the scoreboard showing tied seven times. With the score at 18-18, Coastal Georgia put up three-straight points to grab the 21-18 lead. With the victory in sight, the Mariners ended the third set on a 4-1 run to take the set 25-19 and complete the sweep.
As a team, Loyola recorded a 0.208 (31-15-77) hitting percentage with 26 assists, 25 digs and five blocks on Saturday morning.
Beckham led the Wolf Pack with 10 kills to go along with two blocks. Huekels collected a team-high 21 assists against the Mariners and Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) paced the Loyola defense with three blocks while adding seven kills.
Cayley Meiners handed out a match-high 42 helpers on Saturday and Kyra White and Rachel Amundson both collected 12 kills in the victory.
Loyola returns to First NBC Court tomorrow, Oct. 30, to take on Middle Georgia State at 11:00 a.m. This contest will be the final home match for the Wolf Pack this season.
