TALLADEGA, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana suffered a rare Gulf Coast Athletic Conference volleyball defeat Saturday: 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 18-16 at Talladega.
     Entering the match, the Gold Nuggets (13-16, 10-1) had won 17 straight and 69 of their last 70 GCAC regular-season matches. Including conference tournaments, XULA had won 19 straight and 82 of its last 83 against GCAC opponents. Against HBCUs, Xavier had won 19 in a row and 87 of the last 90 matches.
     There were nine ties and four lead changes in the final set. XULA rallied from a 4-0 deficit to lead 14-12 but committed four errors thereafter to help the Lady Tornadoes (18-12, 9-3) earn their first-ever victory against the Gold Nuggets in 13 attempts.
     Terri Drake had 10 kills and 22 assists — the Nuggets' first kill-assist double-double since the program resumed in 2010. The freshman narrowly missed a triple-double; she finished with eight digs.
     Also for XULA, Juliana Tomasoni had 15 kills, 12 digs, three assists, two blocks and hit .344; Amanda Perry had 24 digs; Hasani Salaam hit .314 with eight kills, three blocks and two aces; and Taylor Ducros had a career-high-tying eight kills.
     XULA hit .481 in the first set, then hit .158 the remainder of the match to finish at .210. The Gold Nuggets committed 47 errors, 24 on attacks and 12 on serves.
     Talladega, winner of seven straight and 16 of its last 18 matches, clinched second place and the No. 2 seed for the GCAC Tournament in New Orleans. XULA, the regular-season champion, will play at 3 p.m. Friday in a tourney semifinal at Dillard's Dent Hall. The Gold Nuggets will close the regular season in a 7 p.m. Monday match against GCAC opponent Tougaloo at the Convocation Center. It will be fan appreciation night, and there will be a Halloween costume contest.