Loyola volleyball (9-4, 1-4) will be starting a five-match-home stand on Sept. 28 and Head Coach Tommy Harold thinks it’s coming at a good time.

“It’s where you’re playing everyday so your comfort level is good, you know what your surroundings are. ” Harold said.

The Wolf Pack has been struggling lately, winning only one

out of the last five matches. The Pack is currently ranked tenth in the Southern States Athletic Conference.

Despite the lack of success in the past two weeks, Harold said he’s happy to play a string of matches in their home gym where they won’t have to worry about adjusting to the other team’s facilities.

“At Belhaven University, they’ve got a very short roof so it affects a little bit of our defense and we’re not able to dig the ball as high we’d typically like to,” Harold said.

The loss at Belhaven was one of three five-set losses Loyola has had in the past two weeks. Harold thinks that one of the keys for the team’s success in the upcoming home games will be getting off to quicker starts. That way, the team won’t have to rely on things going their way late in the match.

“We’re not getting blown out or swept by these teams, we’re closeand that’s encouraging. But at the same time, some of these matches we shouldn’t be going to five [sets] in the first place,” Harold said. “Instead of waiting a set or two to get going we need to jump on them. It’s our home gym and we need to play like it.”

Loyola will play the first of five straight home matches against Costal Georgia (8-9, 2-1), a team that is ranked fifth in the SSAC.

Harold is hopeful that his team will make the necessary adjustments to return to their early-season success.

“I think the pieces are there, we’ve got to put them together and put them in the right places,” Harold said. “We’re going to have some people step up and make plays.”

Hasani Grayson can be reached at [email protected]