NEW ORLEANS — Gina Gill had 13 kills and seven
digs Monday to lead Loyola to a 25-10, 25-19, 25-22 women's volleyball victory
against city rival Xavier University of Louisiana at The Barn.
It was the final match of the regular season for the Wolfpack (25-13) and the Gold Nuggets (8-24).
Kailey Tuthill had 10 kills and 10 digs for Loyola, which completed a
three-match season sweep of Xavier and leads the series 8-0. Amanda Oldani had 10 digs for the Wolfpack.
Sierra Lyons led Xavier with seven kills. It was Senior Night
for the Nuggets, who honored outside hitters
Danielle Jones and
Erin Vincent between the
second and third sets.
Loyola had runs of the 9-0 in the first set and 7-0 in the second
set, then got three kills from Tuthill to close the match after Xavier took an 18-17 third-set lead.
The Wolfpack served seven third-set aces to finish with an 8-1 advantage.
Both teams will play in conference tournaments Friday. Xavier will
stay in town and play in the morning in the double-elimination Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
Tournament at Dillard's Dent Hall — the time and opponent have yet to be announced —
and Loyola will play Southern Wesleyan at 3:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Southern
States Athletic Conference Tournament at Gulfport, Miss.