Wolf Pack sweep Middle Georgia State for second straight SSAC win

The Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned to The Den on Saturday afternoon to square off against Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) opponent Middle Georgia State University.

The Wolf Pack entered Saturday’s match having defeated Brewton-Parker 3-0 yesterday at home while the Knights came to New Orleans having defeated William Carey last night, 3-0.

Loyola’s serving ability was on full display on Saturday as the team logged an impressive 13 service aces. This total was a season high and the most by the Wolf Pack since August of 2016 when the squad recorded 19 aces against SUNO. Powered by its stellar serving, Loyola was able to sweep Middle Georgia State at home to earn its second conference victory while improving to 8-7 on the year.

Up 1-0 to start the opening set, Loyola rattled off five service aces and two kills to jump out to the 8-1 advantage.  The Knights were able to cut the deficit to three, 15-13, before three kills by Malea Howie (SO/Greenwood, Ind.) would spark a 6-0 run to put the home team up 21-13. The Wolf Pack was able to maintain the lead for the remainder of the set and a kill by Tylar Beckham (SO/New Orleans, La.) would seal win for Loyola in the opening frame, 25-16.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair and Middle Georgia found itself with set point, 24-22, in the waning moments. The Wolf Pack used a service error and a kill by Allison Hartmann (JR/Slidell, La.) to knot the set at 24-24 before MGS retook the lead at 25-24 with a kill by Jordan Rayburn. Hartmann knotted the set up at 25-25 with another kill before a Knights error and service ace by Helene Masone (FR/Destin, Fla.) sealed the comeback victory for the home team. 27-25.

With the score deadlocked at 10-10 in set three, the Wolf Pack orchestrated an 8-2 run- capped off by kill from Howie – to grab the 18-12 edge late in the frame.  Despite a few attempts from MGS to come back, Loyola was able to hold onto the cushion for the duration of the set en route to the 25-20 set victory and the sweep.

Hartmann powered the Wolf Pack offense with nine kills to go along with four blocks and a career-high five service aces. Maddie Huekels (JR/Dyer, Ind.)’ 15 assists and six aces (career high) were tops on the team while  Beckham contributed eight kills and one block off the bench in the victory.

Middle Georgia State’s Sidney Szorc led all players with 10 kills while Delia Morin notched a double-double (22 assists and 11 digs) in the loss.

Loyola returns to The Den on Wednesday, Sept. 27, for a match against Tougaloo College at 6:00 p.m.