JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two weeks ago, Edward Waters volleyball had golden opportunities to win two sets against Xavier University of Louisiana. But those opportunities never appeared Saturday as the Gold Nuggets rolled to a 25-16, 25-18, 25-17 victory that moved them closer to a ninth straight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship.
     The Gold Nuggets' 10th consecutive victory made them 18-4 overall and 9-0 in the GCAC — and with a magic of number of three for title clinching, thanks to Dillard's five-set losses to Edward Waters and Talladega at this same venue, EWC's Adams-Jenkins Center.
     The only Edward Waters lead against XULA Saturday was 5-4 in the first set. The Gold Nuggets closed the first set with a 9-2 run, had 5-1 and 7-2 runs in the second set and scored eight of the first nine points of the third.
     In the GCAC regular season, XULA has won its last 36 matches in a row and 105 of its last 107.
     "We played some good competition this weekend," third-year XULA head coach Pat Kendrick said. "It was good to see some areas we've worked on in practice be put to use during the matches."
     Kayla Black and Ema Causevic had 11 kills apiece for the Gold Nuggets, and Vivica Price-Spraggins had nine. That trio combined to hit .339 in 59 attacks.
     Other XULA standouts were Jaida Dowd with six kills, Maya Smith with five kills, Eva Le Guillou with 23 assists and three aces, Tiffany Phillips with 16 assists and Jennifer Torres with 13 digs. Black had three aces and nine digs.
     Nerealice Torres had seven kills and three blocks for Edward Waters (8-8, 5-4).
     XULA outhit Edward Waters .241 to .072 and led the Lady Tigers 45-24 in kills, 41-21 in assists, 7-1 in aces and 45-35 in digs.
     The victory was XULA's third on the road in 30 hours. The Gold Nuggets produced four-set victories at Mobile Friday and in their first match Saturday against Talladega.