TOUGALOO, Miss. — Claudia Haywood, a longtime volleyball nemesis of Tougaloo, reprised that role Saturday.
     Haywood had a season-high-tying 12 kills and hit .579 to lead Xavier University of Louisiana in a 25-20, 25-16, 27-25 victory against the Lady Bulldogs. It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Gold Nuggets (13-7, 8-1 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference), who remained a half-match behind SUNO in the GCAC standings.
     Haywood, a senior middle blocker and a GCAC Preseason Co-Player of the Year, rebounded from a two-match slump in which she hit .030 in 33 attacks. She was the only Gold Nugget to reach double figures in kills, and she raised her career hitting percentage against Tougaloo to .540 in eight matches: 87 kills and 13 errors in 137 attacks. In two matches this season against Tougaloo, Haywood hit .594 with 21 kills and two errors in 32 attacks.
     Xavier hit .372, its second-highest percentage this season and its best on the road by nearly 100 points. Patricia Young Yen had nine kills and hit .563, and Jada Broussard had six kills an hit .667. Neither Young Yen nor Broussard produced an attack error.
     Taylor Reuther had eight kills and 11 digs for Xavier. Darian Harris had 18 digs, and CeCe Williams had 10.
     Chassidy Harris had nine kills for Tougaloo (8-18, 3-6). Kristin Rice had eight blocks, and Kayla Cole had 26 digs.
     The Gold Nuggets won the third set after trailing 7-2.
     Xavier completed a two-match regular-sweep of Tougaloo and is 12-0 all-time against the Lady Bulldogs.
     SUNO, which beat Xavier in five sets Sept. 25, maintained its conference lead with a 25-11, 23-25, 25-12, 25-12 home victory against Philander Smith. SUNO will visit Xavier at 1 p.m. next Saturday. The Gold Nuggets' next match will start at 6 p.m. Thursday at another city rival, Loyola.