Saints volleyball triumphs on the court against Louisiana Christian

The volleyball team continues its undefeated Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) record after sweeping Louisiana Christian University (LCU) this weekend. The Saints faced a tough Wildcats squad on Friday and succeeded in winning 3-1. Saturday’s match was quite a bit easier for the Saints as they went on to defeat LCU 3-0.

The wins move the Saints to 13-4 overall and 10-0 in conference. The Wildcats drop to 6-6 overall and 5-3 in conference. The Saints are tied in the conference standings after previous league-leader Xavier University of Louisiana lost three nonconference matches in a row. Both the Saints and Xavier are 10-0 in conference. LCU is in third place, four games behind.

History
The Saints are 3-0 against the Wildcats.

First match (Oct. 14)
Basics
The Saints struggled in the first set as the Wildcats came on strong to lead for most of the period. After tying at four, the Wildcats pushed through to lead and win 25-15.

In the second set, the Wildcats continued their momentum through a tie at 14. The Saints were able to regroup with some success. The teams tied again at 17 and 18 before Lauren Reynard gave the Saints four straight points. LCU attempted to get back into the lead, but the Saints prevailed to win 25-22.

The Saints started the third slow playing catch up but once they took the lead at 7-6, they were able to continue to power through to win 25-15.

In the final set, the Wildcats regained their energy as they led through the 17th point before Tijana Kruta served four points to give the Saints the lead for good. They won 25-21.

Scoring overview
Set One – OLLU 15– LCU 25

Set Two – OLLU 25 – LCU 23

Set Three – OLLU 25 – LCU 15

Set Four – OLLU 25 – LCU 21

Set review
In the first set, OLLU recorded six kills and six errors on 19 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .000.

The Saints had seven kills in the second set and 10 errors on 34 total attacks for a hitting percentage of -.088.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 10 kills and five errors on 25 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .200.

In the final set, the Saints had 12 kills and four errors on 26 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .308.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints had 35 kills for a hitting percentage of .096. LCU totaled 32 kills for a hitting percentage of .035.

Camila Ramirez led the Saints with 14 kills. Three different players had seven kills for LCU,

Lauren Reynard assisted on 29 plays for the Saints while Emma Cother tallied 23 assists for LCU.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 51 digs, led by Tina Trevino with 16. Leah Stamps tallied 12 digs for the Wildcats.

Serving it up
Tijana Kruta, Julissa Casas and Mia Dorsey tallied three aces for the Saints. Abby Revell had four service aces for the Wildcats.

Second match (Oct. 15)
Basics
The Saints took a little more than an hour to send LCU home on Saturday afternoon. OLLU kept the Wildcats far behind for most of the first set as the Saints won 25-14. The Wildcats did not fare well in the second set either as the Saints completely overpowered them. The Saints reached 20 points, while LCU was still under double digits. They were never able to score more than nine points as the Saints won 25-9.

The Wildcats suffered through the third set as well, as the Saints forced their way to a sweep.

Scoring overview
Set One – OLLU 25 – LCU 14

Set Two – OLLU 25 – LCU 9

Set Three – OLLU 25 – LCU 18

Set review
In the first set, OLLU recorded 10 kills and three errors on 23 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .304.

The Saints had 10 kills in the second set and one error on 15 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .600.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 11 kills and three errors on 20 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .400.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints had 31 kills for a hitting percentage of .414. Louisiana Christian tallied 22 kills for a hitting percentage of .057.

Camila Ramirez led the Saints with 11 kills. Abby Revell totaled six kills for the Wildcats.

Reynard assisted on 29 plays for the Saints while Emma Cother tallied 15 assists for LCU.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 30 digs, led by Trevino with seven. Aniah Adams tallied six digs for the Wildcats.

Serving it up
Ramirez and Mia Dorsey led the Saints with five aces each. Cother had three aces for the Wildcats.

What’s next
The Saints remain home for a nonconference match against NCAA D3 Texas Lutheran University on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.