Volleyball: Loyola falls to Bethel on Saturday afternoon, 3-2

Looking to bounce back from two losses yesterday, the Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team headed to the Crisp Arena on Saturday afternoon for a Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) contest against Bethel University.

The Wolf Pack (9-10, 2-4 SSAC) went to McKenzie, Tennessee on Saturday having lost matches against Martin Methodist (3-0) and Trinity International (3-1) inside the Robert E. Curry Christian Life Center in Pulaski, Tennessee yesterday. Conversely, the Wildcats (7-10, 3-3 SSAC) came into this SSAC matchup having lost its last two conference matches, including a 0-3 sweep at the hands of William Carey last night.

Despite racing out to a sizeable 2-0 set lead to start the match, the Wolf Pack was unable to hold off Bethel on Saturday as the home team battled backed to win the next three-straight sets to claim the 3-2 come-from-behind victory.

The opener was tight to start until a 5-2 Loyola run put the visitors up 14-9 midway through the frame.  The Wolf Pack was able to build on that lead for the remainder of the set – stretching the advantage to as much as eight – before an ace by Sunni Blanchard (SO/Pierre Part, La.) sealed the opening set for Loyola, 25-16.

With the score knotted at 14-14 in set two, the Wolf Pack used kills by Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.) and Adelida Obioha (FR/New Orleans, La.) to go up 17-14.  The Wildcats were able to trim the deficit to two points at 20-18 before two Bethel errors and two more kills by Beckhman brought Loyola to set point at 24-18.  The second set’s ending mirrored the first except this time it was Anna Katherine Brunini (JR/Madison, Miss.)’s ace that gave the visitors the win, 25-18.

Down 0-2, the Wildcats banded together to win the next two sets (25-14,25-22) and force a fifth frame on their home court.

A kill by Beckham halted a 5-0 Bethel run to start the deciding set before the Wildcats rattled off three-unanswered points to push the lead to 8-1.  After a block by Beckham and Beatriz Agosto (SO/Miami, Fla.) brought the score to 2-8, the home team orchestrated a 7-2 spurt to close out the set 15-4 and the match 3-2.

Beckham’s 17 kills on Saturday were a season-high while Maddie Huekels (JR/Dyer, Ind.)’ season-best 27 assists were the most by any player in the match. Helene Masone (FR/Destin, Fla.) paced the Wolf Pack defense with 23 digs and Obioha added nine kills and a team-best seven block assists in the loss.

Brianca Mayfield’s 13 kills led the Wildcats on Saturday while Katelyn Van Hooser dished out 26 helpers to go along with four digs in the win.

Loyola will head to Hattiesburg, Mississippi next Saturday to square off against SSAC foe William Carey at 11:00 a.m. inside the Presbyterian Christian School.