NEW ORLEANS — Terri Drake posted a career-high 11 kills, hit .526 and had two blocks Monday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-13, 25-22, 25-16 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference volleyball victory against Tougaloo that closed the regular season for both teams.
     The Gold Nuggets (14-16, 11-1) will be the No. 1 seed in the GCAC Tournament at Dillard's Dent Hall. The Gold Nuggets will play a 3 p.m. semifinal Friday against the winner of a 9 a.m. first-round match between Tougaloo and SUNO. XULA seeks its sixth consecutive GCAC Tournament championship and automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.
     Drake, a freshman from Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of University Lab School, committed one error in 19 attacks and reached double figures in kills for the third time this season. The hitting percentage was her highest in a match with 10-or-more attempts. Drake hit .750 in the opening set — six kills and no errors in eight attempts.
     Juliana Tomasoni and Hasani Salaam had nine kills apiece for XULA. Salaam hit .467 — her highest percentage in 12 matches — and Tomasoni served two aces and had 11 digs. Amanda Perry a match-high 13 digs and reached double figures for a school-record 27th time. Ralitsa Slanchev had 18 assists, and Tiffany Phillips had 16.
     Tomasoni and Perry were named first-team All-GCAC Friday, and Salaam and Phillips made the second team.
     The victory occurred two days after a five-set loss at Talladega — the Gold Nuggets' second GCAC loss in the last six seasons.
     "We did a good job being resilient after a tough loss Saturday," XULA coach Hannah Lawing said. "Our ladies emptied out all that stress and anxiety we had to deal with from Saturday, bounced back and focused on what they had to do against Tougaloo. This was a good win to help us rebuild confidence for the conference tournament."
     Carolyne Edwards had six kills and hit .417 for the Lady Bulldogs (9-10, 5-7), who dropped their fourth straight. Taylor Kangethe served two aces, and Kayla Cole had 11 digs.
     XULA closed the first set with a 13-3 run and scored the last four points of the second set after Tougaloo rallied to grab a 22-21 advantage. Salaam had six kills in the final set, which included XULA runs of 6-1 and 5-1. Brittanie Cockrell ended the match with a kill.
     The Gold Nuggets outhit Tougaloo .269 to .120 and had advantages of 44-23 in kills, 5-2 in aces and 47-39 in digs.
     XULA is 14-0 all-time against Tougaloo. In GCAC regular-season matches at home, the Gold Nuggets have won 33 in a row, including all 25 in the Convocation Center.
     A XULA victory Friday would advance it to the championship match at 11 a.m. Saturday.