NEW ORLEANS — Taylor Reuther's nine kills, five digs and three aces Friday led Xavier University of Louisiana in a 25-8, 25-7, 20-25, 25-6 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball victory against Philander Smith at Dillard's Dent Hall.
        The Gold Nuggets (12-4, 6-0) set a school record for victories in a season — the 2010 team won 11 — and assured themselves of a winning record in the GCAC for the first time in the program's four seasons. Xavier entered the year 5-17 in regular-season conference matches.
        Reuther, who hit .000 in Xavier's previous two matches, played only in the first and fourth sets and hit .500 in 14 attempts. She served all her aces consecutively during the final set.
        Kerris Crier had six kills, three blocks and hit .455 in 11 attempts for Xavier, and Moira Kirk continued her hot stretch by hitting .625 with five kills in eight attempts, three aces and four blocks. Kirk hit .480 in the Gold Nuggets' past seven matches and was errorless on attack in four of those contests.
        Xavier hit .490 in its three winning sets, but a minus-.056 in the third set dropped the Nuggets to .264 for the match. The Nuggets served a season-best 18 aces, led by Jeanay Butler's season-high-tying four. Nine of the 11 Nuggets who served had at least one ace, and Morgan Stallings and Alexandria Rencher had two apiece.
        Celeste Poe and Butler led Xavier with eight digs apiece. All 12 Nuggets played at least two sets, and Kirk and Crier were the only Nuggets to start in all four.
        Philander Smith (1-10, 0-3), a first-year GCAC member, lost its seventh straight. But the Lady Panthers extended the match by scoring six of the final seven points in set three. Whitney McDaniel scored the final three points on kills.
        Dillard is playing host to 12 matches involving six of the GCAC's eight teams Friday and Saturday. Xavier will play Tougaloo at 7 p.m. Friday, then close its weekend against Edward Waters in a 10 a.m. Saturday match.