NEW ORLEANS — Sha Sha Buchanan's 12 kills and
Meredith Donald's 21 digs Tuesday led Spring Hill to a 35-33, 25-18, 25-14
women's volleyball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana at The Barn.
The Badgers (9-3) are 12-0 all-time against the
Gold Nuggets (5-3). They swept Xavier for the eighth consecutive time.
Taylor Reuther had 10 kills and
Chinedu Echebelem
nine for Xavier, whose five-match win streak ended. This was the Nuggets' home opener.
Xavier saved seven set points and Spring Hill five
in the opening set. The Badgers scored the final two points on a Reuther
service error and a Taryn Nash kill. The Nuggets trailed 21-15 and 24-21
and never led until
Moira Kirk's ace made it 27-26. That was the first of four
lead changes in the final 16 rallies.
The first set was the fourth highest scoring for Xavier and an opponent and
the highest since the
Nuggets' 37-35 first-set victory against Georgia Southwestern on Oct. 29, 2004.
The highest scoring set in XU history was a 40-38 first-set victory against
Loyola at The Barn on Oct. 26, 2004. During Xavier's first two seasons of
intercollegiate competition, 2003 and 2004, teams needed 30 points to win sets.
Spring Hill rolled to leads of 8-1 in the second set
and 15-5 in the third.
Xavier will play Mobile at 7 p.m. next Tuesday at
The Barn.
