XU's Kirk tames Lady Tigers with 13 kills, .650 percentage

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Moira Kirk produced 13 kills and a .650 attack percentage Friday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-12, 25-12, 25-10 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball victory against Edward Waters.

The Gold Nuggets (8-2 overall, 3-0 GCAC) won their seventh in a row to extend a school record and moved a half-match ahead of Tougaloo in the conference.

Kirk had no attack errors for the first time this season. She hit .600 or better in a match for the third time, and for the first time she reached double figures in kills in consecutive matches. Kirk had 12 kills in a three-set sweep of Talladega earlier in the afternoon.

Xavier never trailed in any of the three sets, and first-year coach Christabell Hamilton used 11 of 12 players in the rout. Freshmen Kia Smith and Morgan Stallings both produced their first two kills of the season. Stallings also recorded her first block.

Starting setter Patrice Hightower did not play after the first set, and kills leader Taylor Reuther sat out the third. Alexandra Rencher had 16 assists and Smith seven in relief of Hightower.

Jeanay Butler served a season-best four aces and finished with a XU-best seven for the day.

Xavier closed the first set with a 12-4 run, had a 9-1 run in the second set and scored 11 of the first 12 points in the third. Edward Waters (2-10, 0-2) did not produce a kill until the 16th rally.

Xavier hit .275. It was the third straight match the Gold Nuggets hit .200 or higher, the first time that's happened since Xavier reinstated the program a year ago. The Nuggets had a 9-1 advantage in aces, including Celeste Poe's two and one apiece from Hightower, Rencher and Reuther.

Xavier will conclude its GCAC series at Talladega with an 8 a.m. Saturday match against Fisk, which led 5-2 and 9-5 in its fifth set against Tougaloo before losing 15-13. Fisk rallied from a 2-sets-to-none deficit.

NOTES: The Lady Tigers were Xavier's first neutral-site opponent of the season . . . It's the third time in Xavier's four seasons that the Nuggets won twice in one day. The other times were Sept. 11, 2004, and last Nov. 12 during the opening day of the GCAC Tournament . . . The Nuggets have won 10 consecutive sets and 21 of their last 23.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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