Wolf Pack close out the regular season tomorrow at Bethel University.
Coming off a three-match home stand, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team hit the road on Friday night to take on Martin Methodist College in a key Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) matchup inside the Curry Christian Life Center.
The Wolf Pack pushed the Redhawks to the brink, but the visitors would ultimately fall 2-3 (19-25,25-21,14-25,25-15,15-5) in five sets.
The loss puts Loyola (14-20, 8-11 SSAC) one game behind Martin Methodist (12-17, 9-10 SSAC) for the fifth spot in the SSAC standings heading into tomorrow's regular season finale against Bethel University in Mckenzie.
Down 3-5 to start the opening set, the Wolf Pack used a 7-2 run to grab the 10-7 advantage in the first frame. Loyola was able to maintain the cushion throughout the set and four-straight kills from Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) sealed the opening set for the Wolf Pack 25-19.
Following a 21-25 defeat in the second set, the Wolf Pack responded by running out to a comfortable 8-2 advantage to start set three. With Loyola up 21-13 late, the set ended with both teams sharing six errors en route to the 25-14 set victory for the visitors.
The Redhawks claimed set four 25-15 to force a fifth and deciding set.
Down 0-1 to start the first-to-15 set, Hartmann logged one of her team-high 15 kills to knot the set at 1-1. Martin Methodist managed to find another gear in the fifth set and scored 11 of the next 12 points to snatch the commanding 12-2 advantage. Loyola was never able to recover and the Redhawks took the final set in dominating fashion (15-5) to earn the vital conference victory.
Loyola accumulated a .139 (51-28-165) hitting percentage with 49 assists, 71 digs and eight blocks in the loss.
Hartmann's 15 kills were a match high, while Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) notched a team-high 26 assists to go along with 10 digs and six kills on Friday night. Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) scooped a career-high 22 digs to pace the Wolf Pack defense and Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) chipped in 12 kills, seven digs and two blocks off the bench.
Chakia Hinkle led the Redhawks with 14 kills and Sydney Arnold was responsible for 42 of the teams 47 assists in the victory.
Loyola wraps up the regular season tomorrow, Nov. 5, at Bethel University. First serve from Crisp Arena is set for noon.
