MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile volleyball opened up Southern States Athletic Conference play by beating Loyola University 3-2 (25-20, 25-14, 29-31, 18-25, 15-13) at Pharr Gym Tuesday evening.
Mobile (10-3, 1-0) will visit Lee University Friday, Sept. 14 at 4 pm.
Kiara Gay led the way with 16 kills, 16 digs, 4 aces and 3 blocks, while Bailey Nations put away 13 kills and Courtney Fenwick paced the team with 27 digs. Reagin Boggs had 37 assists and Sara Van Wert finished with 10 blocks.
As a team, Mobile hit .130, compared to .064 for Loyola, and Mobile served up 13 aces, versus 8 for the Wolf Pack.
After taking the opening set, thanks to a 9-3 run that made it 22-14, the Lady Rams dominated in the second set, out hitting the Wolf Pack .375 to .043. Four early Loyola errors helped Mobile grab a 5-0 lead, before jumping out to a 15-5 lead and never looking back to go up 2-0.
With the Lady Rams one point away from clinching it at 24-22 in the third set, a pair of errors gave Loyola new life, and the Wolf Pack took it 31-29, before using a 6-1 run to close out the fourth set at 25-18.
The Visitors were up 12-8 in the final set, before a Gay Kill got the ball back to Mobile, and with Boggs at the service line, the team scored five-straight, with a Boggs ace capping the run. Loyola fought back to tie it at 13-13, but Mobile took the final two points to win it, with a Loyola attack error making it 14-13 and a Van Wert kill finishing it off.