The volleyball team won its 11th consecutive match and remains undefeated after the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) 3-0 two-match sweep over Xavier University of Louisiana. The Saints improve to 16-4 overall and 12-0 in the RRAC, while the Gold Nuggets drop to 15-7 overall and 10-2 in conference.

Head Coach Scott Mattera commented, “Wow, I can’t say enough about how much this team has grown over the past couple of months. We’ve been talking about this weekend since they ended our season last year so to come in to New Orleans and sweep both matches is big time stuff. We’ll celebrate this but also get back to work as we’ve still got room to grow. We know there are a lot of teams that will be coming for us at the conference tourney including this very talented Xavier squad!”

History
The Saints are 5-2 against the Gold Nuggets. Last year, the Saints lost 1-3 and 2-3.

Basics – Match One, Oct. 22
The Saints took the lead at the start of the first set and led for most of the period. They dominated through the 17th point when Xavier tied, and again at 18 and 19. After a kill from Tijana Kruta, the Saints scored five straight points to win 25-20.

The teams were more evenly matched in the second set as the Saints took an early lead and then Xavier took over at 7-6. Set leads switched between teams for most of the game. With the score tied at 22, the Saints scored three consecutive points on Lauren Reynard’s serve to win the second set 25-22.

Xavier threatened in the third set as the Gold Nuggets went up 5-3. They continued to lead 12-11 and an ace from Camila Ramirez tied the score. The teams tied at 17 and 18, and an ace from Julissa Casas gave the Saints the edge at 20-18. Casas served to four more points for match point, and a kill from Kruta gave the Saints the win at 25-22.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints tallied 38 kills with 22 errors on 134 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .119. Xavier had 27 kills with 23 errors on 112 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .036.

Mia Dorsey led the Saints with 11 kills. Taylor McGeen had seven kills for Xavier.

Lauren Reynard assisted on 31 plays for the Saints while Emi Riglioni tallied 11 assists for Xavier.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 54 digs, led by Tina Trevino and Camila Ramirez with 12 each. Kennedy Wade tallied 14 digs for the Gold Nuggets.

Madalyn Gonzalez totaled six blocks for the Saints, while Kendall Mack had six for Xavier.

Serving it up
Mia Dorsey added two aces for the Saints.

Basics – Match Two, Oct. 23
The teams battled in the first set but the Saints were able to take a substantial 15-9 lead. Xavier fought back to tie at 20 and then pulled ahead 23-20. An error on Camila Ramirez pushed Xavier to set point at 24-21. Kills from Rebekah Bustamante, Ramirez and Madalyn Gonzalez tied the set at 24. The teams tied again at 25 and 26, and a kill from Mia Dorsey followed by an ace from Ramirez gave the Saints set point at 27-26. Xavier’s Stella Dineva’s error ended the set with the Saints winning 28-26.

Xavier started strong in the second game pushing ahead 9-5, and four consecutive kills from Ramirez gave the Saints the 11-10 lead. The Saints continued to dominate to win 25-21.

OLLU kept the set close through the fifth point when an ace from Julissa Casas gave the Saints the 7-6 lead. While Xavier was only able to score seven more points, the Saints continued to score to win 25-15.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints tallied 39 kills with 18 errors on 110 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .191. Xavier had 34 kills with 17 errors on 97 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .175.

Mia Dorsey led the Saints with 11 kills. Kennedy Wade had 13 kills for Xavier.

Lauren Reynard assisted on 26 plays for the Saints while Emi Riglioni tallied 12 assists for Xavier.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 42 digs, led by Camila Ramirez with eight. Linda Mungai tallied 11 digs for the Gold Nuggets.

Serving it up
Camila Ramirez and Julissa Casas had four service aces each.

What’s next
The Saints will host Texas College on Oct. 28 for a Red River Athletic Conference two-match series.