Saturday, August 25, 2018

Gold Nuggets hit season-high .311 to sweep Pikeville

Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky  — Xavier University of Louisiana's Vivica Price-SpragginsAdili RikondjaMarine Angely and Jordan Johnson combined for 30 kills and a .391 hitting percentage Saturday in a 25-19, 25-12, 25-19 volleyball victory against Pikeville in the Mid-South Crossover Challenge.
     

The Gold Nuggets (2-1) were to play NAIA No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan at 2 p.m. Saturday, then bus home to New Orleans.
     

Price-Spraggins, Rikondja and Angely had eight kills apiece, and Johnson had six. Johnson hit .556, Price-Spraggins .538, Angely .333 and Rikondja .286.
     

XULA outhit Pikeville .311 to .022. The Nuggets' percentage was a season high.
     

Price-Spraggins, a sophomore, is hitting .446 through three matches. In 2017 her .357 percentage was the second-best ever in a season by a Gold Nugget.
     

"Viv worked hard in the offseason and the summer," XULA coach Pat Kendrick said, "so I'm not surprised she's off to a good start."
     

Eva Le Guillou served three aces to spark the Gold Nuggets to a 5-0 first-set lead. Angely served three consecutive aces during a 9-0 run in the second set. XULA trailed 5-1 and 17-16 in the third set before ending the match with a 9-2 run.
    

"I liked that we won in three," Kendrick said, "and that we played steady for most of it."
     

XULA bounced back from a four-set loss to NAIA No. 17 Georgetown (Ky.) the previous evening. In 29 matches over two seasons under Kendrick, the Nuggets have yet to lose back-to-back matches.
     

"I just think we're trying to be consistent," Kendrick said. "After our losses, I think our players have tried to get a better understanding of all the things we can control and correct."
     

LeGuillou finished 28 assists, eight digs and a career-best four aces. Rikondja had three blocks, and Beatrice Formilan had 11 digs.
     

Cassie Jones had eight kills and three blocks for Pikeville (3-1), and Brittany Reels served four aces.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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