PINEVILLE, La. — Xavier University
of Louisiana dropped the first set but rallied with three record-setting performances Saturday
in a 20-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-18 volleyball victory against Louisiana College.
It was the Red River Athletic Conference
debut for both teams. XULA is 1-4 overall, and Louisiana College is 0-2.
XULA's match records:
• Blocks by an individual:
12 by
Kendall Mack. Moira Kirk (2012) and
Maya Smith (2020) shared the previous mark of 10.
• Team blocks:
16. The Gold Nuggets' previous high was 14 at home against city rival Loyola on Oct. 17, 2020.
• Digs by a sophomore:
28 by
Linda Mungai. Jodi Chatters (2013) held the previous mark of 23. Mungai produced
19 digs during the final two sets.
The Gold Nuggets extended their win streak in
regular-season conference matches to 54. XULA's first 13 volleyball teams competed in the Gulf Coast Athletic
Conference and won GCAC regular-season and tournament championships each of the past 10 seasons.
XULA joined the RRAC on July 1.
XULA won on the road in a regular-season conference
match for the 31st consecutive time.
The Gold Nuggets hit .000 during a first set in which
they trailed 15-7 and 20-12, then hit .263 the final three sets. For the match XULA outhit Louisiana
College .203 to .087 and had a 45-38 advantage in kills.
Kennedy Wade had 12 kills and three blocks for XULA and
hit .350 — eight kills, one error and 20 attacks — in the final two sets.
Stella Dineva had 11 kills,
and her four blocks and .435 hitting percentage were season highs.
Vivica Price-Spraggins had nine kills
and a season-high three blocks, and
Giulia Follador and
Semira Blair served two aces apiece.
Blair had 19 assists and nine digs.
Sadi Jones had nine kills, nine digs and four blocks for
Louisiana College, and Kierra Jones hit .571 with eight kills and three blocks.
XULA ended the match during a fourth set which included
12 ties and eight lead changes. A Price-Spraggins kill put XULA ahead to stay in the fourth at 16-15,
and Mack ended the match with a kill.
XULA will travel to the Dallas suburb of DeSoto, Texas,
for
three RRAC matches
next week. First on that schedule will be Paul Quinn at 2 p.m. Friday.