Loyola volleyball goes 0-2 in Mississippi on Tuesday

Coming off an impressive 3-0 victory over St. Thomas at home on Sunday, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team hit the road on Tuesday for two matches in the state of Mississippi.

The Wolf Pack started its eventful Tuesday with a battle against Tougaloo College inside the Dawg Pound. Loyola was the heavy favorite in this matchup as the Wolf Pack entered the affair having never lost to the Bulldogs (5-0) dating back to 2011. Despite this historical edge, Loyola found itself on the wrong end of a 3-1 (22-25,23-25,25-15,15-25) defeat at the hands of Tougaloo on Tuesday to drop the Wolf Pack to 5-4 overall. Looking to bounce back, Loyola made the short trip over to the A.E. Wood Coliseum to square off against NCAA DII opponent Mississippi College to cap off the evening. Although Malea Howie (SO/Greenwood, Ind.) poured in a season-high 15 kills against the Chochtaws, the Wolf Pack would suffer the 3-0 (22,25,24-26,22-25) sweep against Mississippi College to drop its record to 5-5 entering Friday’s conference opener against Mobile (7:30 PM).

Match One: Tougaloo 3 – Loyola 1

Stats for this match are not yet available, please check back later for statistical updates.

Match Two: Mississippi College 3 – Loyola 0

Down 0-2 to start the first set, the Wolf Pack used two kills by Howie paired with some Chochtaws errors to race out to the early 5-3 advantage.  Loyola was able to maintain that lead until Mississippi College strung together seven-straight to go up 16-12 midway through the frame. With the home team facing set point (24-18), the Wolf Pack was able to ride the serve of Helene Masone (FR/Destin, Fla.) for four-unanswered points to cut the deficit to 24-22 late. The run was stopped on the next play, however, as a kill by MC’s Shelby Grace Mays would give the home team the 25-22 victory to begin the match.

The second set was tight, with both teams battling to 13 ties throughout the duration. A late kill by Allison Hartmann(JR/Slidell, La.) (from Sunni Blanchard (SO/Pierre Part, La.)) would knot the set up 24-24 and force some free volleyball inside the A.E. Woods Coliseum. With the Wolf Pack serving, the Chochtaws’ Sydney Chandler connected with Madison Frazier for a kill to put the home team at set point yet again. The set would end thanks to an attack error by Loyola to give Mississippi College the 2-0 advantage in the match.

Mississippi College held the lead for the majority of the third set but Loyola would not go down without a fight. Down 22-17, the Wolf Pack used two kills by Howie and some Chochtaws errors to rattle off five-unanswered points and push the set to a 22-22 tie. Despite the momentum swing, Mississippi College was able to bounce back and score the final two points of the set to seal the 3-0 victory over Loyola at home.

Howie’s 15 kills and .343 hitting percentage led all players on Tuesday and Blanchard chipped in a team high 15 assists in the loss. Helene Masone carded a season best 12 digs against Mississippi College while Howie paced the defense with four blocks.

Shelby Grace Mays led MC with 10 kills on the day and Sydney Chandler’s 24 helpers were the most by any player in the match.

Loyola (5-5) will head to Mobile on Friday to open up SSAC play with a match scheduled for 7:30 p.m.