Lady Yotes eliminate Nuggets in NAIA opening round

CALDWELL, Idaho — Kylie Porter and Katy Robinson combined for 23 kills and a .565 hitting percentage Saturday, leading 15th-ranked College of Idaho to a 25-18, 25-11, 25-14 volleyball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
     
Xavier (19-8) lost for the first time in 12 matches and was eliminated in the first round at nationals for the fifth consecutive year. The Lady Yotes (22-10) advanced to pool play at the NAIA National Championship Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa, beginning Dec. 1.
     
College of Idaho hit .395, the highest by an XU opponent since September 2013. Xavier hit a season-low .044.
     
Claudia Haywood led the Gold Nuggets with eight kills and a .583 hitting percentage. Taylor Reutherhad seven kills, and Jada Broussard had five. CeCe Williams had 11 digs and Darian Harris 10, andFranziska Pirkl had 25 assists. Jodi Hill had two blocks.
     
Porter, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker and the 2015 Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, had 12 kills and two errors in 19 attacks and hit .526. Robinson had 11 kills and no errors in 18 attacks and hit a season-best .611.
     
Xavier never led after the third point in any set. Porter closed the first and third sets with kills, and seven XU errors helped the Lady Yotes score the final 10 points of the second set.
     
The Lady Yotes had advantages of 45-26 in kills, 3-1 in aces, 37-27 in digs and 11-3 in blocks.
     
It was the final XU match for six seniors: Harris, Haywood, Hill, Pirkl, Reuther and Williams.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold