NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball continued its stellar play Saturday in a 25-17, 25-22, 25-15 Red River Athletic Conference victory against Texas A&M-Texarkana at the University of New Orleans Human Performance Center.
        The victory made the Gold Nuggets (15-2 overall, 10-0 RRAC, active streak of 14 consecutive victories) the first of six teams to clinch a spot in the RRAC Tournament, which will be played Nov. 11-12 in New Orleans.
        Kennedy Wade hit .474 with 10 kills, one ace, one block and eight digs for the Gold Nuggets. Other XULA kills leaders were Stella Dineva with eight, Angela Egonu with seven and Taylor McGee and Maya Smith with six apiece.
        "It's not rocket science," sixth-year XULA head coach Pat Kendrick said of the winning streak. "We analyzed early what we needed to work on and got sharper."
        Emi Riglioni and Charity Metcalf had 19 assists apiece for XULA. Riglioni served two aces, and Kendall Mack had four blocks.
        Sasha Bajek had seven kills and two blocks for the Eagles (10-8, 4-4), who lost to XULA for the second consecutive day.
        The Eagles led 20-18 in the second set after trailing 15-13, but three TAMUT attack errors and kills by Sydney Murray, McGee and Smith gave XULA a two-set lead.
        "That's been a big part of our team," Smith said. "The ability to play together and keep a positive attitude when we get down."
        Wade — XULA's season leader in kills and aces and a strong candidate for RRAC Player of the Year — did not play in the third set. But the Gold Nuggets thrived nonetheless, including a 9-1 run that made it 18-9. McGee had four kills in the third, and XULA clinched after two TAMUT errors.
        "The absence of one player has not affected us," McGee said. "We play well no matter who's on the court."
        XULA outhit TAMUT .316 to .091 and had advantages of 42-29 in kills and 46-36 in digs. XULA's win streak is tied for the second longest in team history. The 2013 team holds the record with 20 straight victories. In conference home matches, the Gold Nuggets have won 62 in a row dating to 2010.
        Another XULA active streak: 18 consecutive victories in RRAC regular-season matches.
        XULA won 142 of its last 145 regular-season conference matches.
        XULA will take a break from the RRAC schedule and play three times in the Grand View Tournament at Des Moines, Iowa: Friday at 4 p.m. against Ottawa — like XULA, the Kansas team is among "others receiving votes" in the most recent NAIA coaches poll — and Saturday at noon against William Penn and 3 p.m. against William Woods.