Loyola’s women’s volleyball team improved to 9-1 with a dominating win over the Belhaven College Blazers in three straight sets on Oct. 7 in the Den.

The Wolfpack began with the ball and quickly set up Gina Gill, psychology freshman, for the kill to gain the first point of the match. Belhaven responded with a kill of their own, tying the game at one each. Loyola took the lead after Sarah Howard, marketing senior, gently tapped the ball over two Belhaven defenders.

The lead change gave the Wolfpack momentum as they jumped out to a huge 10-1 run consisting of two kills and two serving aces from Gill along with a kill and serving ace from Howard. Belhaven managed to score two quick points off of blocks cutting the lead to 11-6.

A couple of Belhaven’s miscues allowed Loyola to score back to back points ending what little momentum the Blazers had. Loyola extended its lead to 20-12 following serving aces by Lindsay Mullinix, general business freshman, and Howard, contributing a total of five aces on the night.

From there, the Wolfpack won the set comfortably with a score of 25-12 to take the first set of the match off a kill by Mary Seals, accounting senior.

The Wolfpack came out strong following the first set taking an early 5-1 lead after both Gill and Howard added two more kills. Belhaven attempted to make a run at Loyola’s lead by scoring two points but a well timed block by Megan Mathews, psychology freshman, ended what hopes Belhaven had of tying the score.

The ensuing play drew excessive cheers from the crowd after Loyola managed to gain the point to take an 8-4 lead after defending several attacks by the Blazers. Belhaven managed to squeeze in only two points during Loyola’s 10 point run before calling timeout with the score 17-6.

The Wolfpack’s all around play dominated the Blazers the rest of the set with several kills, serving aces and blocks that contributed to Loyola’s blowout win 25-8.

When asked about the second set, Coach Tommy Harold said, “We limited our errors. We played aggressively, which is very important, and if we can be aggressive and not give up many points then we can really make a difference in the match.”

Seals won the first point of the third set with a serving ace but Belhaven took an early 2-1 lead. The Blazers held the lead for only a short amount of time until their lead was erased by an illegal hit followed by another serving ace from Howard.

Gill added a kill giving the Wolfpack a small lead of 9-6. From there, Loyola put together a nine point run giving them a 12 point lead, 18-6. During the run, Gill contributed three serving aces while Seals added two points off of kills.

Belhaven attempted to gain some ground on the lead, blocking several attacks from the Wolfpack, but eventually ended up losing the final set 25-16.

Loyola’s serving proved to be the difference on the night as they tallied 11 total serving aces. Henderson said, “Our serving was really tough tonight and we were really focused. We passed the ball really well.”

Howard said the team’s consistency allowed them to sweep the Blazers in straight sets. “It’s just a lot of repetition that we do during practice – the little things that allow the setter to hit her connections,” Howard said.

After the match, Belhaven head coach Lydia Smith said, “We were unresponsive and lackluster. We couldn’t serve or receive passes tonight; we just weren’t focused.”

“We did a decent job of blocking except in the second game, but we did a lot of things wrong tonight. We didn’t show up mentally,” Smith said.

Harold said, “We had a good performance – a very clean match. We continue to work on our improvements and that is our focus. We had a great effort from everyone; we played all of our players from one to 12, and everyone spent time contributing.”

Loyola will head to Montgomery, Ala., to participate in the Faulkner University invitational Oct. 10, where they will play the University of Maine at Machias and Shorter College.

Craig Malveaux can be reached at [email protected].

Loyola’s women’s volleyball team improved to 9-1 with a dominating win over the Belhaven College Blazers in three straight sets on Oct. 7 in the Den.