TALLADEGA, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana volleyball put the finishing touches on a decade of dominance in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with a 25-21, 25-11, 25-14 victory Saturday against Dillard in the league's tournament championship match.
        XULA (18-4) won the GCAC's tournament and regular-season championships for the 10th consecutive year. XULA clinched the regular-season title by beating Dillard in three sets two weeks earier.
        XULA earned its 10th consecutive automatic bid to NAIA nationals and will learn Monday of its opponent and venue. Byes have been eliminated for this year's tournament; all 48 teams will play in the opening round.
        Tournament MVP Kayla Black hit .458 with 13 kills, two aces and eight digs for XULA, and setters Eva Le Guillou and Emi Riglioni joined Black on the seven-member all-tournament team.
        "We started strong and played clean throughout the match," said head coach Pat Kendrick, who has yet to lose to a GCAC opponent in her four seasons at XULA. "We are looking forward to our first-round matchup at nationals."
        XULA scored 13 consecutive points in the second set and closed the match with a 10-1 run.
        Kennedy Wade had eight kills, 10 digs, a block and a match-high three aces for XULA. Maya Smith hit .714 — five kills in seven attacks — and had two blocks, and Jennifer Torres had a match-high 13 digs. Le Guillou had 16 assists, a match high, and Riglioni had 11. Le Guillou served two aces, and Bria Mayes had six kills.
        Black joined Claudia Haywood (2013, 2015) and Juliana Tomasoni (2016, 2017) as two-time GCAC Tournament MVPs from XULA. Black also won in 2018.
        In beating Dillard for the second straight season and the third time in four years in the tournament final, XULA outhit the Lady Bleu Devils .295 to .021 — .339 to minus-.033 during the final two sets — and had advantages of 39-22 in kills, 7-1 in aces and 45-32 in digs. XULA's total errors were 13 fewer than Dillard's.
        Dillard finished 16-7. Its only three losses in its last 19 matches were to XULA, which has beaten its city rival 27 consecutive times dating to 2010.
        This was XULA's final volleyball match in the GCAC. Effective July 1, XULA will be a member of the NAIA's Red River Athletic Conference.

Dominant Traits
XULA volleyball's GCAC success by the numbers
•  Head coach Pat Kendrick in GCAC matches (2017-present): 61-0 (52-0 regular season, 9-0 tournament)
•  XULA's current win streak in GCAC matches: 64 (53 regular season, 11 tournament)
•  XULA record in GCAC matches the last 10 seasons: 146-2 (120-2 regular season, 26-0 tournament)
•  XULA record in GCAC sets the last 10 seasons: 442-35 (364-28 regular season, 78-7 tournament)
•  XULA record in GCAC sets during Pat Kendrick's four seasons as head coach: 177-3 (156-3 regular season, 21-0 tournament)