LEWISBURG, Pa. – Loyola University Maryland's offense hit .309 to win the second and third sets, but the Greyhounds swung at just a .078 clip in the other three sets, and Bucknell University held on for a 25-13, 14-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-7 Patriot League victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Greyhounds (13-15 overall, 8-7 Patriot League) close their regular-season on Sunday afternoon with a 2 p.m. match at Colgate University. A Loyola win over the Raiders will secure its first bid to the four-team Patriot League Championships since joining the conference in 2013.
 
Bucknell (8-19, 3-13) came out and led throughout the first set, hitting an even .500 with only two errors on 28 swings to go with 16 kills, but Loyola rebounded to hit .433 with 16 kills in the second, evening the match at 1-1.
 
The Bison had leads of 13-11 and 15-14 in the third set, but Loyola battled back each time. After the latter deficit, Abby Hamilton and Haley Puddy had kills as part of a 3-0 Greyhounds run that gave them a 17-15 lead. Bucknell came back to tie the set at 20-20 and 21-21, the second time coming on a Blake Buchholz kill.
 
Ann Ernst responded with one of her match-high 16 kills, and a Bucknell attack error gave the Greyhounds a two-point lead the would hold onto, taking a 2-1 lead in the match after three sets.
 
The Bison, however, came back to outscore Loyola 40-26 in the final two sets, pulling away for the five-set victory.
 
Ernst was one of three Loyola players with 14 or more kills. Puddy had 15, while Hamilton tallied 14. Molly Jarvis had a team-best six blocks, while Alisah Cash and Puddy each tallied five.
 
Katie Forsythe led all players with 22 digs for Loyola.