NEW ORLEANS —
Moira Kirk had nine kills, and
Taylor Reuther and
Chinedu Echebelem had eight apiece Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana
to a 25-15, 25-11, 25-23 women's volleyball victory against Mississippi Valley at The Barn.
The Gold Nuggets (4-2) tied a school record with their
third consecutive victory, and they defeated an NCAA Division I opponent for the
second straight day.
Reuther had 14 digs — nine in the second set —
and five aces. Echebelem had 10 digs.
Celeste Poe had nine digs, and
Kerris Crier
had seven kills, three blocks and a .462 attack percentage. Setter
Alexandria Rencher
had 27 assists, six digs, three aces and two kills.
Mika Krienke and Brychana Williams had five kills apiece
for Mississippi Valley (4-3), and Jane Petersen had 17 digs.
Kirk had three consecutive kills during a 9-1 first-set
run. The Gold Nuggets never lost their lead after scoring the first three points
of set two, and they scored the final four points of the match after trailing 12-6.
Xavier outhit Mississippi Valley .211 to .043 and had
advantages of 36-24 in kills and 10-2 in aces. The Devilettes never served an
ace after getting two from Emily Hnatiw to take a 5-2 lead in the first.
The match was Xavier's third in as many days and its fourth
in five days. XU coach Christabell Hamilton did not mind the busy schedule.
"I think it helped our team to play all those matches
this week," Hamilton said. "I saw improvement each day. We took all that momentum
and brought it here to today's match."
Mississippi Valley threatened in the third to extend the match.
Reuther's service error, just the second of the match for Xavier, gave
the Devilettes a 23-21 lead. But Xavier answered with Echebelem's kill on the next
rally, then tied at 23 on April Brown's attack error. Poe's ace brought
the Nuggets to match point, and Xavier clinched when Williams' attack went long.
"We could have folded when we trailed early in the third set,"
Hamilton said, "but we didn't."
It's the Nuggets' second victory against a team which
swept them twice in 2010. Xavier is two victories above .500 for the first time
in the program's four seasons.
