TYLER, Texas — Xavier University of Louisiana hit a season-high .388 Saturday and defeated Texas College 25-15, 25-10, 25-7 to complete a two-match Red River Athletic Conference women's volleyball sweep.
        The Gold Nuggets (11-4 overall, 8-0 RRAC) have won eight straight — they haven't lost a set during that time — and took sole possession of first place in the conference after Our Lady of the Lake lost in five sets at home to Texas A&M-Texarkana. OLLU led 2-sets-to-1, but the Eagles scored the final six points in the fifth set after trailing 14-10.
        OLLU and TAMUT are both 7-1 in conference.
        NAIA All-America outside hitter Kennedy Wade hit .308 with 11 kills, two aces, one block, nine digs and two assists for XULA. Teammate Bengisu Kazazlar produced her eighth double-double this season — 27 assists and 10 digs — and the freshman setter also had six kills, three aces and a .417 hitting percentage. Charity Metcalf had a match-high dig total for the second straight day; this time it was 11.
        Kristen Stewart had four kills, four assists, seven digs and a block for the Lady Steers (0-6, 0-6).
        Texas College hit minus-.025 and finished with more attack errors than kills for the second consecutive day.
        The Gold Nuggets opened the match with nine consecutive points. XULA middle blockers Taylor Parker, Kendall Mack and Kennedi Bell hit a combined .477 in the series: 26 kills and five errors in 44 attacks. They also totaled 14 blocks. Bell had four blocks in the finale.
        The Gold Nuggets extended their winning streak to 36 in regular-season conference matches on opponents' courts. The last loss was in five sets at Talladega on Oct. 29, 2016, when XULA was a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. XULA joined the RRAC in July 2021.
        Next for the Gold Nuggets: a two-match RRAC home series against Huston-Tillotson at the Convocation Center — 7 p.m. Friday, then noon Saturday.