Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven Volleyball team squeaked out a hotly-contested 3-2 Southern States Athletic Conference matchup versus Loyola University on Tuesday evening in Rugg Arena. The Blazers jumped out to an early 2-0 set lead, but the Wolfpack battled back and forced Belhaven to win in five.

The Blazers and the Wolfpack were deadlocked in the first set with neither team able to finish two points in a row for the first half of the set. Belhaven (12-3, 4-1 SSAC) was finally able to finish off five points in a row to take command of the set behind a string of kills from Natalie Davis and Morgan Hofacker.

The Wolfpack countered with a strong attack of their own, but the Blazers were able to pull away with a tone-setting first set victory 25-20.

Belhaven continued the momentum from the first set as they found an answer for every attack that Loyola threw out them. The set was defined by the number of impressive defensive plays on both sides of the court, but Belhaven was able to put together the longer streaks of points to take another closely contested set, 25-21.

The Blazers looked to be on their way to a straight set victory, racing out to a 22-19 lead over the Wolfpack. However, Loyola had a burst of energy following a timeout and took six of the final seven points scored in the set to get back into the match.

The fourth set was more of the same with the two teams trading points on nearly every serve. Belhaven struggled with consistency on their serve, allowing Loyola to stay within an arm's reach the entire set.

Loyola took their window of opportunity and made the match interesting by grabbing a 18-17 lead midway through the set. The Blazers were never able to recover from the Wolfpack attack and dropped the set 20-25, effectively tying the match at two apiece.

With the Blazers reeling following two straight set losses, the Wolfpack raced out to a 7-2 lead in the final set. A timeout by Head Coach Jordan Lay seemed to get the team refocused as they rebounded to knot the set at 10 all.

Loyola (9-4, 1-4 SSAC) found themselves with a match point, but the Blazers were able to rally off three straight points to end the match and breathe a sigh of relief.

Erin Bradley once again led the way for Belhaven with a season-high 52 assists. Four players totaled double digit kills on the other end of those Bradley passes: Hofacker (13), Davis (10) Samantha O'Malley (15), and Taylor Williams (14).

Katherine Owen, Alyson Plyler and Gabriella Zorzoli paced the Blazer' defense with 25, 19 and 17 digs respectively. Bradley and Hofacker both completed a double-double as they each added 16 digs on the night.

Following the conference test, the Blazers remain at home with Brewton-Parker and Coastal Georgia coming to Rugg Arena this weekend.