Women's Volleyball Splits on Day One of Conference Tournament

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 6 Point University women's volleyball team opened up Pool Play in the Southern States Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship opening round with a 3-2  loss to No. 2 Loyola University New Orleans and a 3-0 win over No. 7 Life University today. The Skyhawks fall to 23-16, while Loyola improved to 25-8, and Life fell to 11-15.

Point is back in action tomorrow when it faces No. 3 William Carey at 2:30 p.m. to close out Pool Play.

Match 1: Point 2, Loyola 3 (25-20, 15-25, 25-23, 17-25, 11-15)

The Skyhawks opened up the first set with a 2-0 lead, but it did not last long as Loyola rattled off the next three points in a row to take a 3-2 lead. Both teams traded points, finding themselves tied at six and then again at seven. Point used a 7-2 run to break the set open and take a 14-9 lead, and later went on to a 25-20 win and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Looking to even the match, Loyola wasted no time as it leaped to a 12-5 lead in set two. The Skyhawks attempted to chip away at the lead, but they would come as close as eight to trail 20-12. Loyola used a 5-3 run to close out the set with a 25-15 win and tie the match at one.

Point in set three took a 4-1 lead to shift the momentum back in its favor. The Wolfpack clawed their way back in using a 7-4 run to tie the set at eight. The Skyhawks strung together a 12-8 run to break the tie and go back in front to lead 20-16 before going on to win 25-23 and take a 2-1 match lead.

The Wolfpack in set four took a 12-6 lead to start things off, but Point attempted to work its way back to trail 17-13. Loyola then used an 8-4 run to claim a 25-17 set win and tie the match at 2-2.

Going into the fifth set, Point took a 3-1 lead, but the Wolfpack used a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead. The Skyhawks came within three to trail 9-6, but that is as close as they would get as Loyola took the set 15-11 and won the match 3-2.

Tianna Kynard and Jasmyn Ceasar each finished with 13 kills over the five sets pace Point. Caesar led the team with a .414 hitting percentage.

Claire Cordell finished a double-double in kills with 10 and digs with 11. Her 11 digs were a match-high for the Skyhawks. She also recorded the team's over ace.

Paige Lowe registered 45 assists to pace the team and one of the team's two aces, while collecting seven digs in the process.

Match 2: Point 3, Life 0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18)

As a team, the Skyhawks hit .310 for the match with a set-high .387 hitting percentage in the third set.

Point tallied 11 aces for the match; this is the seventh time this season the Skyhawks have recorded 10 or more aces. The season-high came back on August 30 when Point registered 14.

Ava Clay led Point in kills with 10, while hitting a team-high .571. She added six digs in the process.

Fellow teammate Ceasar added eight kills of her own with a team-high four aces. She also paced the team in digs with nine. 

Lowe, who finished with 45 assists earlier today, registered 32 assists against Life, giving her a total of 77 assists on the day.

Cordell finished the match with nine digs, five kills, and three aces, while Elissa Robison tallied two aces of her own.