NEW ORLEANS — Party pooper Our Lady of the Lake spoiled Xavier University of Louisiana's volleyball senior day with a 25-21, 25-8, 25-17 victory Saturday in the final match of the Big Easy Blastoff.
        The Saints (5-1) won all three of their matches, two against XULA (4-4), in this two-day, three-team event. OLLU became the first-ever volleyball opponent to beat XULA twice at XULA in the same season.
        OLLU rallied from a 2-sets-to-0 deficit Friday and won 15-10 in the fifth set.
        "Obviously I was hoping for improvement in the second match but didn't see it," XULA head coach Pat Kendrick said. "This weekend showed our team what we need to work on to get better. Our Lady of the Lake is a very good team. Maybe we'll see them again at some point."
        If not in the postseason this spring, then definitely during the fall when XULA joins OLLU in the NAIA's Red River Athletic Conference.
        OLLU outhit XULA .255 to .040 and had a 42-24 advantage in kills. The Saints' Kalani Ketchens, Anissa Tanez amd Cassidy Haller combined for 27 kills and a .490 hitting percentage in 49 attacks.
        XULA, meanwhile, produced only one player who hit better than .167, and four players finished with negative hitting percentages. Kayla Black (seven kills, eight digs), Bria Mayes (six kills), Kennedy Wade (five kills, nine digs), Maya Smith (three blocks) and Semira Blair (two kills, 15 assists, one ace, five digs) were XULA's statistical leaders.
        A 9-2 run gave XULA a 20-18 lead in the first set, but OLLU clinched with five kills, an ace and a block thereafter. The Saints closed the second set on a 13-2 surge and limited XULA to its fewest points in a non-fifth set since 2010, then pulled away in the final set with a 9-4 run after a tie at 7.
        It was the first time since September 2016 that XULA lost consecutive home matches.
        XULA honored seniors Black, Eva Le Guillou, Vivica Price-Spraggins and Jennifer Torres in a prematch ceremony. All four are school record holders. None of the four ever has lost a Gulf Coast Athletic conference match or failed to qualify for NAIA nationals during their tenures. This is the fourth season at XULA for Black, Le Guillou and Price-Spraggins and the second season for Torres.
        XULA will return to the court Feb. 19 in GCAC group play at home against Talladega and Edward Waters.