NEW ORLEANS —
Taylor Reuther had 10 kills, six aces
and six digs and hit .500 Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-11,
25-9, 25-11 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball victory against
Talladega at The Barn.
The Gold Nuggets (15-6 overall, 8-0 GCAC) won for the
10th time in 12 matches and pushed their all-time home record above .500 for
the first time in the program's five-year history. Xavier is 25-24 at The Barn,
12-4 since the start of the 2011 season.
Xavier has won 18 consecutive GCAC regular-season matches
since the start of 2011. The Nuggets can clinch a second consecutive GCAC
regular-season championship with a victory at home Thursday against city rival SUNO.
Reuther produced kills on each of her first seven
attacks and hit .500 or better for the sixth time this season. She reached
double-figure kills for the fourth consecutive match and the 12th time this season, both team bests.
Reuther, the NAIA's second-ranked server, had six aces for the second
consecutive match.
Kerris Crier,
Chinedu Echebelem and
Jodi Hill had four
kills apiece for Xavier.
Jodi Chatters had 12 digs — her fourth consecutive
match in double figures — and Echebelem had eight.
Talladega (18-11, 5-3) lost in conference for the second
time in three days.
Crier recorded all her kills, plus three blocks, during a 17-1 first-set run
which erased Talladega's 7-6 lead. It was the Lady Tornadoes' final lead of the match.
All 13 available Nuggets played. Crier and
Moira Kirk
started but did not play after the first set. Kirk, the Nuggets' best blocker,
had two kills and two aces, but her streak of 40 consecutive matches with a block ended.
Xavier's next match will start at 7 p.m. Monday
against Belhaven at The Barn. The Nuggets will play four times next week to close
the regular season, then travel to Little Rock, Ark., for the GCAC Tournament the following week.