WASHINGTON, D.C. – Five-time defending Patriot League champion American University came back from deficits of 19-17 and 24-23 in the fourth season to take a 26-24, 25-27, 25-18, 26-24 victory over visiting Loyola University Maryland on Wednesday night.
 
Wednesday was the first time since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013 that the Greyhounds took a set off the Eagles (8-9 overall, 4-0 Patriot League). The Eagles scored only nine points more than the Greyhounds (6-11, 1-3) in the match, seven of which were in the third set.
 
Ann Ernst had 22 kills to lead all players in the match, hitting .333 in the process on 45 swings. Haley Puddy added 14 kills and three blocks, while Abby Hamilton added 13 kills and 10 digs. Katie Forsythe tallied 30 digs, the third time this season she has reached the 30-dig plateau.
 
Neither American, nor Loyola led by more than two in the opening set with the Greyhounds going up 23-21 on a Mackenzie Fedota kill. The Eagles came back to tie the set at 23-23 when Aleksandra Kazala had a kill, and Jeanne Westney came back with a kill to give American a 24-23 advantage.
 
Hamilton sided out for the Greyhounds with a kill to tie the score at 24-24, but back-to-back points by the Eagles closed out the set in their favor.
 
In the second set, American had blocks on five-straight points to lead 11-5 before Loyola reeled off three points in a row to get back within three. The Eagles, however, pushed back up by six, 15-9, on a Helena Elbaek kill.
 
Hamilton, however, sided out with a kill, and American had an attack error that made it a four-point gap before Ernst strung together three-consecutive kills to cut the deficit to 16-15.
 
American did not give up the lead and eventually took a 20-17 advantage, but two points in a row for the Greyhounds got Loyola within one. A service error moved American three points from taking a 2-0 lead in the match, but four miscues by the Eagles – a service error and three hitting errors, the last coming due to a Puddy-Molly Jarvis block – put Loyola on top, 23-21.
 
The Eagles came back to tie the score at 24-24, but Ernst tallied two of her kills to close out the score and even the match at 1-1.
 
American led throughout the third set, save a tie at 4-4, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles then built a 15-13 lead in the fourth only to see Loyola come back to gain an advantage. Consecutive kills by Ernst and Fedota gave the Greyhounds a 17-16 lead. They would stretch that to 19-17 after an American hitting error, but Westney and Shannon Webb put away swings for points, tying things at 19-19.
 
Hamilton had a kill for sideout at 20-19, and the match was tied three times before the Greyhounds went up 24-23 on a Fedota-Puddy block. American, however, rallied for three points in a row to close out the match.
 
The Greyhounds return to Reitz Arena to start a stretch of eight-straight home matches on Friday, October 5, when they host the U.S. Military Academy at 7 p.m.