XULA volleyball seniors on Instagram

        NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball moved a step closer to clinching an unshared Red River Athletic Conference regular-season championship by defeating Jarvis Christian 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 Friday.
        The Gold Nuggets (16-5 overall, 13-0 RRAC) and the Bulldogs (10-16, 3-10) will meet at noon Saturday at XULA's Convocation Center to conclude their two-match series.
        XULA's magic number is three — any combination of XULA victories and Our Lady of the Lake losses — to win the RRAC. Our Lady of the Lake moved to 12-1 in the conference after its 25-18, 25-23, 25-15 home victory against Huston-Tillotson.
        Seniors Kennedy Wade, Maddie Meyer and Kendall Mack were honored before the match, then all three contributed to the victory. Wade, a third-team NAIA All-American a year ago, hit .433 with 16 kills, four aces, seven digs and a block. Mayer served three aces, and Mack led XULA with three blocks.
        Also prominent for XULA were Ruxandra Flueras with 14 digs, five assists and two aces, Sydney Murray with six kills, eight digs and a block, Bengisu Kazazlar with 31 assists, three kills and five digs, Stella Dineva with nine kills, a block and a .353 hitting percentage, Taylor Parker with eight kills, and Charity Metcalf with six assists.
        Aaronyana Wilson hit .444 with eight kills and five blocks for the Bulldogs (10-16, 3-10), and Kiah Barron — the RRAC leader in hitting percentage — hit .429 with seven kills and six blocks.
        The Bulldogs became the first RRAC opponent this season to hit at least .100 against XULA — they finished at .141 — but the Gold Nuggets hit .320 and had advantages of 44-32 in kills, 9-2 in aces and 40-34 in digs.