DeSOTO, Texas — About two hours after a disappointing loss to Huston-Tillotson, Xavier University of Louisiana volleyball displayed its resilience Saturday in a 25-19, 25-18, 25-13 Red River Athletic Conference victory against Wiley.
        The Gold Nuggets got 10 kills and a .368 hitting percentage from Angela Egonu, seven blocks from Kendall Mack, a career-best six blocks from Taylor McGee and 17 assists and 11 digs from Semira Blair — her second double-double of the season — to improve to 3-5 overall and 3-1 in the RRAC.
        Two Vivica Price-Spraggins aces keyed an 8-0 run to close the first set. XULA had a 7-1 run in the second set and an 8-1 run to open the third.
        XULA rebounded after a 19-25, 26-28, 25-22, 25-23, 15-13 loss to Huston-Tillotson — XULA's first regular-season conference loss since 2016 — and against Wiley hit a season-best .294.
        XULA continued its mastery against Nancy Sikobe, who is in her second stint as Wiley's head coach after four seasons (2016-19) at Dillard, XULA's city rival. The Gold Nuggets are 13-0 against Sikobe-coached teams, 3-0 during her Wiley tenure.
        XULA leads the Wiley series 4-0, and this was the first time the Gold Nuggets defeated the Lady Wildcats without dropping a set.
        XULA's next match will be its first at home this season — 1 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center against RRAC opponent Texas College. Four XULA home matches in the Big Easy Blastoff were canceled, and three RRAC matches this weekend were moved out of town in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.