The Loyola volleyball team has started strong this season, carrying a 9-3 record into conference play, highlighted by a seven game winning streak and an upset victory of three sets to one over the previously top ranked team, Jamestown, North Dakota, in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics polls.
“I think we are better than we have ever been at this point of the year,” said head coach Jesse Zabal. “We were ready to prove ourselves because we hadn’t played great in our previous match that morning. We wanted to come out and prove that what we showed that morning was not the level we’re capable of playing at, and we showed that against the No. 1 team in the nation.”
For her efforts in the upset victory, freshman nursing major Alexa Palmer received the first Southern States Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week award for the season.
Although Palmer said she felt honored for receiving this title, working as a team was even more rewarding.
“My performance, in addition to our team’s performance as a whole in the game, was most rewarding because it set the standard for our abilities as individuals and as a team. We were making plays from every position on the court very efficiently the entire game, which has helped us to be successful so far this year,” Palmer said.
But the Wolf Pack is not letting their early success distract them as conference play begins in the coming weeks.
Senior middle blocker and psychology science major Amaya Bazemore said even with the big win, the team is still working hard for the high intensity during conference games.
“Like any team, we’ll have our ups and downs, but using our downs as lessons and building blocks for the future will allow us to quickly adapt, grow, and move forward with high hopes of proceeding success. Our win over Jamestown was a major milestone for the program and proved that we are here to make some noise and come out stronger than ever,” Bazemore said.
The team is keeping a one-game-at-a-time mindset, according to Zabal, meaning they enter practice after each game working just as hard as they would if they lost.
“As long as we’re training hard in practice and competing well in our games, we know positive outcomes are close by,” Zabal said.
The Wolf Pack will have their home conference opener at the Den on Sept. 15 against Blue Mountain Christian and will look to continue their winning play.
“I believe that we will set some new records and make volleyball history here at Loyola,” Bazemore said. “I can’t wait to see where this season takes us!”
