Loyola sweeps Brewton-Parker in three sets

After playing its last six matches at home, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team hit the road on Friday morning and headed the Gillis Gymnasium in Mt. Vernon, Georgia to square off against Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) foe Brewton-Parker College.

Coming off a conference loss against Bethel on Saturday, the Wolf Pack entered Friday’s match at 3-8 in league play while the home Barons came into the league matchup having yet to win a match (0-11) within the SSAC. Although things got a little close in the third set, Loyola was able to hand BPC it’s 12^th-straight conference loss on Friday thanks to a 3-0 (28-15,25-9,25-22) sweep.

Loyola (14-15, 4-8 SSAC) will continue SSAC play tomorrow when it travels to Macon, Georgia to take on Middle Georgia State University at noon.

The Wolf Pack started the first set down 0-1 but quickly bounced back with a 6-1 run to grab the 6-2 lead early in the opening frame. Loyola was able to maintain its lead for a majority of the set until a kill by the Barons’ Mallory Faraone brought the score to 19-18 to threaten the Wolf Pack’s advantage. One point would be as close as the BPC would get for the remainder of the set, however, as the home team would commit five errors over the next six plays to hand the Wolf Pack the 25-18 victory to kick off the match.

It was all Loyola in the second set as the visiting team was able to hold the Barons to under ten points for the duration. Up 20-9, the Wolf Pack ended the set on a 5-0 spurt – capped by a kill by Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.) – to grab the convincing 25-9 win.

Set three was a back-and-forth affair throughout until the scoreboard knotted at 22-22 down the stretch. With the score tied, Loyola used a BPC attack error paired with kills by Maryka Zee (JR/Lilburn, Ga.) and Lindsey Ulfig to score the final three points of the set and give the visitors the 25-22 victory in the final frame.

Beckham and Zee led the Wolf Pack with six kills apiece while Maddie Huekels (JR/Dyer, Ind.) dished out a team-high 16 assists. Helene Masone (FR/Destin, Fla.) paced the defense with 12 digs and Beckham tied a season high with eight total blocks in the win.

For the Barons, Autumn Beasley had eight kills and Marina Dennis handed out a match-high 18 helpers on Friday night.