MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile volleyball team blanked Southern States Athletic Conference rival Loyola University 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-23) Tuesday evening at Pharr Gym.
Mobile moves to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in conference action, and will travel to Dayton, Tenn., Friday, Oct. 1 for a 7 pm showdown with Bryan College.
Senior Kelly Sherling paced the Lady Rams with 15 kills on an impressive .333 hitting percentage, while Alyson Kovacs added 9 kills and Christa Hicks finished with 8 kills and 13 digs.
Katy McCollister paced the team with 21 digs from the libero spot, while Shea McBee added 7 kills and 10 digs. Melody Tenney led with 27 assists, while Kaylee McGrew added 12.
The Lady Rams hit .194 as a team and held the Wolfpack to .103. Loyola's Gina Gill led with 15 kills, but hit only .107.
Just like the entire match, the first set was back-and-forth, with the largest lead being an early 5-2 Loyola advantage. The Lady Rams did not grab a lead until taking a 17-16 lead late. The teams traded points from there until Mobile was down 21-19 on a kill from Gill. But, kills from Kovacs and Sherling sparked Mobile on a 4-0 mini-run to grab a 23-21 advantage, before trading points until the 25-23 end.
The second set saw Loyola start to pull away to a 14-9 lead after some Mobile errors, but the Lady Rams used a 7-2 run to climb back to 16-16, with Hicks's kill tying it up. A pair of Gill kills put the Wolfpack up 23-20 and only two points away from tying the match, before Mobile grabbed six of the final seven points to grab the win. Four Loyola errors aided the set-clinching win.
Mobile grabbed the early lead in the final set, with some three-point advantages before the Wolfpack finally evened it up 17-17 on an ace. Tied up at 22-22, Mobile again answered the call in the clutch, taking three of the final four points. Sherling slammed home a couple of kills to go from 22-22 to 24-22.