Saints Split Conference Series with Xavier

NEW ORLEANS, LA. (Nov. 3, 2024) – The Big Easy was anything but easy this past weekend, witnessing an epic battle between the Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) volleyball team and Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA). The two teams engaged in two five-set matches, each team displaying unwavering determination. The Saints, now 19-8 and 12-2 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC), and the Gold Nuggets, now 14-14 overall and 11-3 in conference.

History

The Saints are 8-5 against XULA. In 2023, the Saints won both regular-season games 3-0 and 3-1 and lost in the conference championships 3-2.

Game one recap

XULA started the first set strong with an early 6-3 lead. The Saints came back off an ace from Julia Casas to lead 15-14. The teams tied at 16, 17, 19, 22, and 23. An attacking error from XULA put the Saints ahead 24-23, and a kill from Nicole Bir gave the Saints the 25-23 win.

The Gold Nuggets led for most of the second set except for the beginning rotation. They held the Saints to a .167 hitting percentage while winning 25-17 for a best-of-match .481 hitting percentage.

Xavier went on a 6-0 run to begin the third period, but the Saints fought back to tie the score at 10. The teams battled fiercely, with XULA going ahead 20-16 when a kill from Camila Ramirez tied the score at 20. The Gold Nuggets prevailed to win 25-21.

With the Saints being down 2-1, the women powered through to an 11-7 lead. The Saints scored the next six points to go up 16-11. They kept the lead through a 23 tie, but a service error on XULA and a kill from Anais Velasquez gave the Saints the 25-23 win.

The tiebreaker set started with the Saints running through to a 4-0 lead, but the Gold Nuggets battled to catch up and tie at seven. The Saints would only allow one more point while scoring eight points to win 15-8 in the set and 3-2 in the match.

The Saints tallied 57 kills and 34 errors on 168 attacks for a hitting percentage of .137. XULA totaled 55 kills and 28 errors on 169 attacks for a hitting percentage of .160. Anais Velasquez contributed 16 kills, while Camila Ramirez added 15, and Victoria Urbanczyk had 11.

Lauren Reynard finished with 24 assists, and Carly Dosset had 12. Tina Trevino added 16 digs, while Chanisty Villarreal-Bermea totaled 12. Nicole Bir tallied five blocks.

Head Coach Scott Mattera said, "It was a great battle. It always seems to go five here, but this time, we came out on top. Their block is really good, but we found enough ways to score, and our defense ran down some really great saves. It wasn't our 'A' game, but it was a gritty win in five, which hopefully exercised some past demons!"

Game two recap

The Saints dominated the first set, tallying 13 kills for a hitting percentage of .214. Xavier had eight kills and eight errors for a .000 hitting percentage. The Saints won 25-16.

XULA added only four errors to their 10 kills on 32 attacks, while the Saints had 13 kills for a hitting percentage of .043. The set ended with Xavier winning 25-21.

OLLU took the next set 25-21, once again dominating with 15 kills while limiting XULA to 8.

The final two sets saw OLLU totaling seven kills in each one, while XULA had 10.

Overall, the Saints had 55 kills and 38 errors on 168 total attacks for a .101 hitting percentage.  XULA tallied 46 kills and 25 errors on 138 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .152.

Camila Ramirez led in kills with 17, and Mia Francis added 11. Lauren Reynard finished with 28 assists, and Carly Dossett added 13. Tina Trevino finished with four service aces and 16 digs.

Mattera commented, "I was really disappointed that we couldn't follow up last night's big win—credit Xavier for playing with nothing to lose. We are still growing in our understanding of playing under pressure, and the execution just wasn't consistently enough to pull through in this one. Love this team and can't wait to get back in the gym to prep for Southwest and then our tourney run!"

What's next

The Saints will travel to Hobbs, N.M., for conference matches against the University of the Southwest on Nov. 8-9. OLLU will host the RRAC Championship Tournament Nov. 15-16.