BALTIMORE – Led by Ann Ernst's 16 kills, four Loyola University Maryland players had 10 or more kills Friday afternoon, and the Greyhounds upended visiting Siena College, 25-16, 27-29, 25-15, 25-16 in the opening match of the Baltimore Bash presented by the Lord Baltimore Hotel.
 
In addition to Ernst's kill totals, Abby Hamilton and Cat Vaccaro each had 13 playing in their first collegiate games. Vaccaro hit .611 in the process with just two errors on 18 swings. Haley Puddy added 10 kills, also on 18 swings, for a .444 clip.

As a team, the Greyhounds (1-0 overall) hit .292 while holding the Saints (0-1) to a .121 mark.
 
Three Loyola players had double-doubles. Molly Werts had 13 digs to go with 25 assists, while Ernst (16 kills, 11 digs) and Hamilton (13, 10) also had 10 or more in two categories. Katie Forsythe, who also made her collegiate debut in the match, had 13 digs to tie Werts for team-high honors. Alaina Acchione added a team-best 26 assists for Loyola.
 
The Greyhounds got out of the gate quickly, allowing Siena to lead by no more than one in the opening set. A Vaccaro kill to make it 10-8 in the first ignited a 6-1 Loyola run that expanded the lead to 15-9 on a Corinne Filograna service ace.
 
Siena would get back within four, 15-11, on a Loyola ball-handling error, but the Greyhounds pulled away for a comfortable set-one win.
 
The Saints, however, did not allow Loyola to run in the second. Neither the Greyhounds, nor Saints led by more than three for the entire set. Loyola took a 9-6 advantage on a hitting error by Siena, but the set ended up featuring 20 ties and six lead changes before the Saints evened the match at 1-1.
 
Loyola scored the first three points of the third set and never trailed in the frame, going up by eight, 17-9 on an Ernst ace. The Greyhounds served aggressively, finishing the match with 13 aces as Siena had just four.
 
Loyola led by as many as three in the opening points of the fourth, but Brooke Rogers had a kill for Siena to knot the set at 10-10. Rogers and Nicole Deobler then locked up a block for the Saints, giving them a one-point lead.
 
The teams traded service errors with Siena bookending a Loyola miscue with two of its own. Two-straight Siena hitting errors, the second coming on a Mackenzie Fedota and Hamilton block, put Loyola in front, 14-12, a lead it would extend to 20-12 as part of an 8-0 run.
 
The Greyhounds return to action on Saturday, August 25, at 10:30 a.m. when they face Radford University in their second match of the tournament in Reitz Arena.