JOLIET, Ill. --- Loyola University New Orleans and NAIA No. 11-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University proved to be too much for the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team Friday night as the Saints (4-3) dropped back-to-back contests for the first time this year at USF's own Big Dogs Classic. Loyola New Orleans (6-3) scored a 25-14, 25-23, 25-14 win in the opener before Indiana Wesleyan (5-1) claimed a 25-13, 25-18, 25-23 victory in the nightcap.
USF's top contributors in the first match were
Desiree Anderson with 10 kills and
Hannah Monfre with 13 digs.
In the second match, no Saint produced more than eight kills topped by
Gabriela Oliveira.
Kaylie Sippel registered a double-double with her 10 assists and 12 digs.
Match 1: Loyola New Orleans def. USF 25-14, 25-23, 25-14
Trailing 6-3 in the first set, Loyola put up six straight points to take a 9-6 lead and followed that up with an 8-3 run to pull away for the first-set decision.
In Set 2, the Saints rallied from a 5-2 deficit with 11 of the next 12 points to build a 13-6 advantage. Anderson's three kills sparked the surge. USF would maintain that seven-point advantage as late as 21-14 only to have Loyola close out the set scoring 11 of the final 13 points.
Set 3 was tight for the first half of the match, including 14-12 midway through, before the Wolf Pack unleashed another 11-2 closing run to capture the match.
Match 2: Indiana Wesleyan def. USF 25-13, 25-18, 25-23
Like Loyola New Orleans, Indiana Wesleyan used a big burst to open Set 1 with a win. The Wildcats turned a tight 11-10 lead into a 23-11 advantage en route to the 25-13 victory.
Set 2 saw Indiana Wesleyan jump out to a 6-0 lead. The Saints eventually cut that to 16-13 before Indiana Wesleyan put up nine of the final 14 points to go up two sets to none.
In Set 3, it was St. Francis that started strong, gaining a 6-1 advantage and led by that same margin as late as 20-15. Indiana Wesleyan followed with a string of six unanswered points to take its first lead of the night at 21-20. The Saints were able to force a tie at 21-all before the Wildcats closed out the night with four of the final six points.
Notes: The Saints struggled to find their offensive game in the opener, being held to a .032 attack percentage. They boosted that up to .167 in Match 2, but Indiana Wesleyan countered with a .402 mark … Head coach
Cara Currier's team is right back at it on Saturday morning facing Aquinas College (Mich.) at 9 am before closing out the tournament with a 2 pm date versus Missouri Valley College … The matchup with Aquinas will be the second one in eight days. The Saints opened the season against Aquinas last Friday and rallied for a five-set win.
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