The Loyola volleyball team saved its best effort for the clinching point of its fourth consecutive conference championship.

After losing its opening round match to Dillard University and sweeping Belhaven College, the ‘Pack needed another sweep against Spring Hill to earn the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Loyola easily won the first two sets but trailed for most of the third set.

Head Coach Greg Castillo called timeout following two failed attempts to tie the score and his team behind 24-27. Loyola had not been even with Spring Hill since the score was knotted at two.

“I told them that we needed six points and to take it one point at a time because you can’t get all six in one serve,” he said. “I told them to play our game and we can get back into [the set] and that’s what they did. They didn’t panic and I called timeout to make sure they didn’t.”

The ‘Pack came out of the timeout and scored the next six points to win 30-27 and clinch its fourth straight conference championship and a berth in the Region XIII tournament.

On the final point, Maggie Schaefer, communications senior, had the ball bounce backwards off her, but April Barrios, general business sophomore, made an incredible diving save on a piece of carpet far behind the court of play.

Loyola used its last hit to pop the ball back over the net. After the teams hit the ball back and forth, Spring Hill committed an error, sending Loyola and its fans into a wild celebration. Castillo ran onto the court and hugged Barrios, who actually received a carpet burn on the dive.

“I knew I could get it,” Barrios said about her sensational play. “I usually practice that and just happened to use it on match point. I made the play because I trusted my teammates to get it over.”

Castillo, who was named GCAC Coach of the Year, was excited for his team and enjoyed the amazing conclusion to the tournament.

“We haven’t really done that a lot. We’ve been working on getting quicker in practice and when she (Barrios) did that I was ecstatic. I knew she was going to get to it by the determination on her face. What a way to end it,” he said.

With the conference tournament victory, the ‘Pack remained atop the rankings in Region XIII and will host that tournament this weekend. “We’re seeded No.1. Whenever we play someone, they’re gunning after us,” Castillo said.

“They’ll play their best and so we need to play our best.

“I tell the players to play our game and not play to the level of the competition. We can’t panic. We have to go out there and take care of business.”

Schaefer, who was named GCAC player of the year for the second year in a row, has made the All-GCAC team every year of her career. She finished with 17 kills in the Spring Hill match and 53 for the tournament.

“I’m very honored to be player of the year because there are a lot of other good players and the competition keeps getting better,” she said.

Schaefer recalled her carrer at Loyola fondly.

“The first year was good because we were so young, and it’s awesome to win with so many different teams,” she said. “It’s cool to say that we contributed in winning every year of our careers.”

In the first match of the tournament, Dillard ended Loyola’s seven-match win streak against them, 25-30, 30-21, 29-31, 30-24, 15-9.

“Dillard played well and didn’t make mistakes. We hadn’t played in two weeks and our timing was off,” Castillo said.

The ‘Pack was able to bounce back with a sweep against Belhaven College 30-16, 30-22, 30-21 before clinching the conference with a sweep of Spring Hill. Schaefer led the team again with 10 kills, four aces, and 14 digs. Melissa Showalter, communications junior, added 10 kills.

Besides Schaefer, three other players were named to the all-conference team. Suzi Ruiz, history junior, who led Loyola with 80 aces thus far this season, earned a spot on her third consecutive All-GCAC team. Shannon LaHaie, marketing sophomore, led the ‘Pack with 62 blocks this season and made her second All-GCAC team. Amanda Gilliard, who averaged 2.66 kills per game, also merited a spot on her second straight All-GCAC team.

The ‘Pack will open the Region XIII tournament with matches against Georgia Southwestern on Friday at 11 a.m. and Faulkner at 7 p.m. The semi-finals are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday and the finals will be played at 3 p.m.

GCAC Player of the Year, Maggie Schaefer

Amanda Gilliard, education junior, jumps up for the kill on the set from history junior Suzi Ruzi during the GCAC Tournament in the Den. (Asdrubal Hernandez)