HOUSTON, Texas -- Xavier University of Louisiana beat city rival Loyola in women's volleyball for the first time ever and defeated the host school, St. Thomas, on Friday in the UST Labor Day Tournament.
The Gold Nuggets (4-2) defeated Loyola 25-13, 25-16, 25-16 and St. Thomas 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21.
Box scores: Loyola St. Thomas
Taylor Reuther extended her double-double streak to five with 12 kills and 16 digs against Loyola and 23 kills, a career best, and 14 digs against St. Thomas. Chinedu Echebelem had 10 kills, eight digs and season bests of three aces and a .450 hitting percentage against Loyola and 13 kills, a season high, and seven digs against St. Thomas. Jodi Chatters had 40 digs in the two matches, 23 against St. Thomas. Kerris Crier, playing collegiately in her hometown for the first time, had a career-high-tying nine kills and hit .471 against St. Thomas.
"We found some fluidity and continuity in terms of court chemistry," said first-year XU head coach Hannah Lawing, whose team hit better than .300 in both matches. "Our hitters are connecting better with our setters, and our defensive system was better executed than it was last weekend. We kept pressure on our opponents with our serves. Everybody on the bench was ready to go in when we needed them.
"Our hitters mixed up their shots really well, finding holes on the other side of the court and making adjustments to each team."
Loyola entered the tournament with an 11-0 series advantage against Xavier, including two victories a year ago.
"It felt good to win against a traditionally good program," Lawing said. "It was a relief not only to win the match but also to be in control the entire time."
The Gold Nuggets never trailed in any of their sets against Loyola and closed the first two sets with 7-1 runs. Consecutive kills by Jodi Hill, Reuther and Moira Kirk ended the match.
St. Thomas scored the final four points of the third set to extend the match and led 16-14 in the fourth after overcoming a 9-4 Xavier advantage. But four St. Thomas errors, four Reuther kills and a Darian Harris ace helped the Nuggets escape with their fourth win in their last five matches and their first this season on an opponent's court.
Xavier will play Saturday, the second and final day of the tournament, at 10 a.m. against Columbia (S.C.) and 4 p.m. against Montana Tech. Xavier's home opener will start at 1 p.m. on Sept. 14 against Voorhees in the Convocation Center.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
The Tigers
return 18 starters from last year’s 8-3 team including 11 on the defensive side
of the ball.
However, the
team’s biggest question mark will be at quarterback where freshman Ronald Butler
will make his first start of his career. Butler won the job this fall when he
beat out senior Holt Claiborne and JUCO transfer Lamar McKnight.
The good news
for Butler is that he will have the luxury of throwing to junior tight end A.C.
Leonard who is a preseason All-American by a handful of publications. Last year,
Leonard led all OVC tight ends and underclassmen in receiving yards (733). He
also hauled in six touchdown passes as a sophomore.
The squad will
also break in a new starting running back Trabis Ward left the program at the
conclusion of last season. Ward lead the conference in rushing attempts (309)
yards (1,422) and touchdowns (15) in 2012. Matching Ward’s production might be
difficult for one player to do, so the team will likely turn to both Telvin
Hooks and Adam Davenport to carry the load. Hooks rushed 75 times last year for
425 yards for an astounding 5.7 yards per carry average. 2013 will be
Davenport’s first year at Tennessee State after transferring from the Naval
Academy.
On defense,
the Tennessee State will return all 11 starters from a defensive squad that led
the OVC in total defense in 2012 (361 y/pg). Second Team All-OVC selection Nick
Thrasher will once again captain the defense from the middle linebacker
position, a year removed from leading the squad with 105 stops and 9.0 tackles
for loss.
The secondary
is highlighted by First Team All-OVC cornerback Stephen Godbolt III and Second
Team selection safety Daniel Fitzpatrick who combined for 106 tackles and seven
interceptions- six by Godbolt. Even with retuning all 11 starters, the Tigers’
defense still only has seven seniors listed on the two-deep depth
chart.
The Tigers’
opponent in the JMC will be the defending MEAC Champions and preseason No. 1
ranked HBCU team, Bethune-Cookman. The Wildcats finished 9-3 last season
including a 21-14 loss to TSU in Daytona Beach.
B-CU returns
13 starters from 2012 including its leading rusher, passer, receiver and
tackler.
Isidore
Jackson will enter his senior season as the Wildcat’s go-to-guy on the ground, a
year removed from rushing for 1,069 yards on 191 attempts for a 5.6 average.
Jackson was also the leader in all-purpose yards (1,217) and scoring (72
points).
Handing
Jackson the ball will be junior Quentin Williams who rushed for 635 yards,
himself, in B-CU’s spread offense. Williams’s main duty last season was to throw
the ball and he performed well, tossing 11 scores compared to just two
interceptions. Eddie Poole was on the receiving end on most of Williams’s
passes, leading the team in receptions (32), yards (439), and touchdowns
(5).
On defense,
Jarkevis Fields will return after compiling 103 tackles from the linebacker
position a year ago.
TSU will hope
to improve to 11-4 in JMC games and 7-1 against B-CU when the teams kick off the
2013 season at 7 p.m.
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION