BOWLING GREEN, OH – The Wright State volleyball team jumped out of the gates Friday afternoon and never looked back as the Raiders swept (RV) Loyola Chicago as part of the Hampton Inn Invitational.
 
The Raiders (2-3) wrap up weekend action on Saturday against tournament host Bowling Green at 2 p.m., with the match expected to be streamed on ESPN+.
 
On Friday, Wright State saw seniors Megan Alders and Callie Martin each tally 10 kills to pace the offensive attack, while freshman Reilly Zegunis just missed double digits herself with nine kills as the Raiders finished the afternoon hitting .305 overall as a group, with .378 marks in the first and third sets. On the other side, Loyola hit just .125 as a team. Katie Meyer notched another double-double, passing out 33 of the Raiders' 43 assists and collecting 12 digs, while Jenny Wessling notched a match-high 20 digs on the backline. Wright State also had a presence at the net all afternoon, with Zegunis leading the way with a match-best five blocks as Martin added four blocks of her own.
 
OF NOTE…
-Zegunis recorded five blocks for the second straight match and has now recorded multiple blocks in the last four contests after none in her collegiate debut. Her nine kills just missed out on her second double-digit kill performance of her young career.
-Meyer reached the 30-assist mark for the fourth time this season, just missing the mark in the season-opener (29 vs. Washington St.). Entering the season, she had reached 30-plus assists seven times in her career.
-Byers turned in seven kills for the second consecutive match and now has five or more kills in all four matches played this season. She had five-plus kills 18 times in 2022, recording 10 or more kills four times.
 
SET ONE
Back-and-forth in the early going as the teams traded early points, the Raiders opened up what was a one-point advantage with a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 21-15 behind kills from Alders, Martin and Zegunis. After the run was momentarily stopped with a Loyola point, the Raiders closed the set with four straight points thanks to kills from Byers and Zegunis, along with a pair of Loyola attacking errors.
 
SET TWO
Loyola jumped out to an early lead with six of the first eight points in the set and later led 11-5 before the Raiders dug back into the set. Down five at the midway point of the set, Wright State went on an 11-3 run to take advantage at 17-16 and set up the race to the finish. Loyola pulled back within two with a service ace, as the sides traded points before the Ramblers knotted the score at 24-all with back-to-back points. After Loyola momentarily halted the Raiders at set point to again tie at 26-26, Wright State used two straight Loyola attacking errors to close the set.
 
SET THREE
The Raiders tallied the first five points of the set and never looked back, later using another five-point run to push to 16-7 behind a pair of kills from Zegunis. A 5-2 run extended the Raiders to the brink, as they closed the afternoon with two final kills, first from Alders and then from Meyer.