Reuther, Harris, Hill lead XU past Philander Smith

NEW ORLEANS — Taylor Reuther had 13 kills and 15 digs, Darian Harris has 25 digs and three aces, and Jodi Hill had five blocks Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana in a 25-15, 25-14, 23-25, 25-19 women's volleyball victory against Philander Smith.
     
The Gold Nuggets (11-7, 6-1 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) won their third in a row and extended their home winning streak to seven, matching the second longest in the program's history. They have 29 consecutive home victories against GCAC opponents, 27 during the regular season.



Reuther had her most kills and digs this season against a GCAC opponent, and the double-double was her eighth of the season. Harris reached 20 digs for the second time in three matches and produced her second-most digs ever in a GCAC match. Hill continued her strong net play — she has 26 blocks in the last six matches after collecting 16 in the first 12 matches.
     
Other XU standouts included Franziska Pirkl with 38 assists, 11 digs — her fifth double-double of the season — and four kills, CeCe Williams with 20 digs and Claudia Haywood with eight kills and three blocks.
     
Zyra Wright had 16 kills and 10 digs for the Lady Panthers (8-13, 3-2), but Xavier's defense forced her into a season-high 11 attack errors. Samantha Moore had eight kills, nine assists and 16 digs, and Victoria Hicks had 14 assists and 17 digs.
     
Reuther ended the first set and the match with kills. She had eight first-set kills, six during an 11-3 run to close the set. The Gold Nuggets led 15-4 in the second but Wright (four kills) and Jazmine Washington (four blocks) extended the match and helped Philander Smith become the first GCAC opponent to win a set against Xavier in the Convocation Center.
     
Philander Smith led 6-3 in the fourth before Haywood produced two kills during a 6-0 run that put the Gold Nuggets ahead to stay.
     
Xavier outhit Philander Smith .172 to .056 and had advantages of 47-38 in kills, 7-3 in aces and 86-76 in digs. The Gold Nuggets' dig total was a season high. The Lady Panthers, who rank among the NAIA's top 20 in blocking, produced 11 blocks, the most ever by an XU opponent at the Convocation Center. Xavier had eight blocks.
     
"We were ready to digs some balls and play some defense," XU coach Hannah Lawing said. "Our block did a really good job of setting up properly at the net for our defense to play around, and it gives our defenders a good opportunity to dig a lot of balls."
     
Xavier's next match will start at 1 p.m. next Saturday at GCAC opponent Talladega. There is one XU home match remaining: Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. against GCAC leader SUNO.
     
NOTES:  Xavier won its first 59 sets at the Convocation Center against GCAC opponents before Philander Smith finally broke through . . . This was the Gold Nuggets' annual Dig Pink Match for breast cancer awareness . . . The Gold Nuggets will close the regular season with 5-of-6 matches on the road, although two will be in New Orleans (Loyola and Dillard) . . . Through seven GCAC matches this season, Xavier is outhitting opponents .267 to .008 . . . Before Saturday, the Gold Nuggets were 0-3 in Oct. 10 matches.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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