LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas -- The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball regular-season championship belongs again to Xavier University of Louisiana.The Gold Nuggets defeated Philander Smith 25-10, 25-11, 23-25, 25-16 Saturday to win the title for the fourth consecutive year.
"It's fantastic to be the regular-season conference champs again," second-year XU coach Hannah Lawing said. "However, we are going to channel all of our excitement into focus for the GCAC Tournament. Winning regular season is great but, ultimately, doesn't get us to nationals, which is our goal."
Xavier will play eighth-seeded Voorhees at 10 a.m. Nov. 14 at XU's Convocation Center in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. The semifinals will start at 3 p.m. that day, with the championship match to begin at noon Nov. 15. The tournament winner will receive at automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.
The Convocation Center will be the site of all XU tournament matches. No. 2 seed SUNO will play host to two quarterfinals and a semifinal Nov. 14.
The victory was the sixth in a row for the Gold Nuggets (17-4, 13-0). Xavier has won 56 consecutive matches against GCAC opponents -- 47 in the regular season -- and 54 straight against HBCUs. Philander Smith is 15-17, 8-5.
"We had a great start against Philander Smith," Lawing said. "We took care of the fundamentals very well, serve and serve receive."
Xavier will close the regular season on the road against two city rivals: 7 p.m. Monday at Loyola, then 7 p.m. Thursday at Dillard in the final conference match.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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