The Loyola volleyball team made their home debut today with two matches at the Wolf Pack Welcome tournament hosted at the Den.
It was the first game for the team since their trip to Montana for the Big Sky Challenge where they were unable to earn their first win of the season.
Game 1
The first match pitted Loyola against Embry-Riddle University(Ariz.), who like the Wolf Pack, were ranked just outside the top 25 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Preseason Rankings.
The Pack would lose the first set of the match to the Eagles 25-19 before rebounding to take the second se
t 25-21 to even up the match at 1-1.
The Eagles would rally, however and take the next two sets 25-13 and 25-19 to close out the game and drop Loyola to 0-5 to
begin the season.
Graduate senior middle blocker Amaya Bazemore put in a solid performance in the game, tallying 10 kills and 6 blocks, while sophomore setter Ellie Connor totaled 19 assists and senior libero Simone Moreau led the team with 14 digs in the loss.
Game 2
The Wolf Pack would look to rebound from their earlier loss with a good performance and potential upset victory against the #15 ranked Montana Western Bulldogs.
Similar to the game before, the Wolf Pack would drop the first set 25-19 before battling back to win a thrilling second set by a score of 28-26.
However, this game would end just as the previous game, with the Bulldogs winning the next two sets 25-18 and 25-19 to win the match three sets to one and leave the Wolf Pack to wait another day for their first win of the season.
Senior opposite hitter Preslie Boswell led the team in kills this match with eight, senior libero Simone Moreau led the team with 21 digs, sophomore setter Ellie Connor led the team with 19 assists along with solid games from senior middle blocker Amaya Bazemore, who added seven kills and seven blocks, and freshman outside hitter Clarissa Dupree, who tallied seven kills and four blocks.
