XU wins 3rd straight GCAC regular-season championship



Xavier has won 39 straight in women's volleyball against the GCAC.

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana won its third consecutive Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship in women's volleyball by defeating Dillard 25-18, 25-18, 25-22 on Wednesday at the Convocation Center.

Moira Kirk and Taylor Reuther -- two of the four juniors who never have lost to a GCAC opponent since arriving at Xavier as freshmen -- had 12 kills apiece to lead the Gold Nuggets (22-7, 11-0) to their 16th consecutive victory, which extends their school record. Xavier has won 39 in a row against conference opponents since the start of 2011.

Xavier completed its home schedule with a 9-0 record and has won a school-record 13 straight on its campus dating to 2012. It's the first time the Nuggets won all their home matches in a season.

Kirk hit .476 in 21 attacks and had an ace, seven digs and four blocks. Reuther had 11 digs, one ace and a block.

Kerris Crier, Xavier's only senior, and Jodi Hill had six kills apiece. CeCe Williams and Chinedu Echebelem had 11 digs apiece.

Carolyn Baker had 13 kills, and Mercades Chevis had seven kills and 11 digs for Dillard (10-6, 7-4), whose four-match win streak ended.

Hill and Reuther had two kills apiece, and Claudia Haywood had a kill and two blocks during an 11-0 run which erased Dillard's 8-5 lead in the first set. Two Kirk kills and a Jodi Chatters ace helped Xavier take a 5-0 lead in the second set, and the Nuggets rallied from a 12-4 deficit in the third.

After a tie at 22, Xavier ended the match on kills by Reuther, Echebelem and Alexandria Rencher, who also had 17 assists in the final set. Xavier closed with an 8-3 run.

Xavier outhit Dillard .248 to .065 and had advantages of 47-26 in kills, 49-39 in digs and 6-3 in blocks. The Gold Nuggets defeated their city rival for the eighth consecutive time to take their first lead in the series at 8-7.

Xavier climbed two victories above .500 for the first time in the program's six years. The Nuggets are 97-95 overall, 67-22 in the last three seasons.

The GCAC championship is Xavier's third in five days. Xavier won men's and women's cross country titles on Saturday, and the university's total is 49 in the last nine seasons. Xavier has won approximately 100 championships at the conference, group or district level since fielding its first teams in the late 1920s.

Xavier and Dillard will close the regular season in a 1 p.m. Saturday match at Dillard's Dent Hall, then both will compete in the GCAC Tournament, which will begin Nov. 7 at Little Rock, Ark.

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By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA