The Gold Nuggets (5-2) won their fourth in a row and their third in this tournament. They'll play their final tournament match at 1 p.m. EDT Saturday against NAIA No. 4 Missouri Baptist.
Causevic had a season-high seven blocks, matched her season highs with 11 kills and 13 digs, and she served three aces. Mitchell, a freshman, had 29 digs — the most in a match by Gold Nugget since Anna Dalla Vecchia's school-record 34 at home against Marian (Ind.) on Nov. 18, 2017.Maya Smith tied her XULA freshman match record with eight blocks. Kayla Black had 11 kills, nine digs, two blocks and an ace. Vivica Price-Spraggins had seven kills and three blocks, and Jaida Dowd had five kills.
Tiffany Phillips had a season-hiigh 24 assists in relief of starting setter Eva Le Guillou, who had 19.
Earlier Friday, XULA defeated Missouri Valley 25-17, 25-13, 16-25, 25-9.
"I thought we handled well the pressure the other teams were putting on us," XULA head coach Pat Kendrick said. "It was great to see players stepping up and doing their part to help us win."
Abbie Seward had 15 kills and nine digs for Keiser (4-5) but also had 11 attack errors. Eshe Malone had 10 kills, and Kenzi Thornton served five aces.
Keiser had advantages of 46-45 in kills and 9-5 in aces, but the Gold Nuggets outhit the Seahawks .227 to .101. XULA had advantages of 65-51 in digs and 12-3 in blocks.
It was the first volleyball meeting between XULA and Keiser, a member of the NAIA's The Sun Conference.
Against Missouri Baptist, XULA will attempt to beat a ranked opponent for the second time in its 12 seasons. The Gold Nuggets lost in three sets at home to No. 5 Viterbo this past weekend.
BOX SCORE
Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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