As the fans continued to chant “San Diego,” the women on the Loyola volleyball team could feel the energy building in the Den.
They responded with the winning point of the Region XIII tournament, as communications senior Maggie Schaefer delivered a menacing kill that bounded off a defender and landed on the running track of the second floor.
“My players feed off the fans cheering,” Head Coach Greg Castillo said. “In the third game [of the winning match], it was quiet and we played bad. When the crowd got into in the fourth set, that helped us out. It made a big difference. I wish we could take them with us to San Diego.”
The ‘Pack (30-8) won all four of its matches in the tournament (November 22-23) to advance to the NAIA national tournament for the second consecutive year. The tournament started Wednesday in San Diego, Calif.
“It is great knowing that we were the team everyone wanted to beat,” history junior Suzi Ruiz said. “The fact that all the other teams were cheering against us was really motivating.”
“This year was harder because we were expected to win,” Castillo said. “That put a lot of pressure on us every match. I didn’t sleep well the nights before regionals wondering if we could do it. It was very rewarding to win.”
But the road to the title game was far from easy. In the semifinals against Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rival Spring Hill, the ‘Pack fell behind two sets to one before rallying with an easy 30-21 win in the fourth set and a hard- fought 15-13 victory in the final set.
Elementary education junior Amanda Gilliard, who had 15 kills in the match, sealed the win with a spike that ricocheted off the blocker and onto the floor.
“You don’t really think about game point because when you’re out there, you just play,” Gilliard said. “You focus on the score but it’s not your main focus.”
Loyola had to battle through questionable officiating during the match. Several calls in the second set sent assistant coach Paul Wolf out of his chair to scream at the head official.
After going down in the third set, The ‘Pack kept its poise and won the next two sets to advance to the finals.
Ruiz said she told the team in the huddle before the fourth set if they played as a team and picked up the energy, the team would not and could not lose.
The Spring Hill game proved to be more challenging than the championship, a match in which Loyola seized control from the start. It won the match against Southern Wesleyan in four sets by the score of 30-25, 30-28, 23-30, 30-23. Schaefer, the two-time GCAC player of the year, finished with 86 kills for the tournament, including 23 kills in the championship. Shannon LaHaie, marketing sophomore, and Gilliard each added 14 kills for Loyola in the victory.
“There was a lot of pressure going in because everyone wanted to beat us, and we proved we deserved to be number one,” Gilliard said. “Winning [the Region XIII championship] says a lot about our team because we had a lot of injuries to deal with.”
In pool play on Friday, Nov. 22, the ‘Pack had little trouble winning their two matches and advancing to Saturday’s semifinals. Schaefer had 26 kills and 17 digs in a 30-23, 22-30, 30-25, 30-26 against third-seeded Georgia Southwestern. Loyola swept Faulkner (30-22, 30-26, 30-17) in the second match of the day with Schaefer once again leading the way with 10 kills.
With its second straight regional championship, Loyola advanced to the NAIA national tournament in San Diego. Last year, the team managed to win only one game in all four matches. Now, it takes its experience back to nationals.
“Hopefully, we will not go in and be in awe because we were at the tournament last year,” Castillo said. “It won’t be easy because we are playing top teams, but you never know. If we play our game and get some breaks here and there, we could get some wins.”
