BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland led Radford University, 20-19, late in the fourth set, but the Highlanders rallied to hold off the Greyhounds, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 in the first Saturday match of the Baltimore Bash presented by the Lord Baltimore Hotel.
 
A Mackenzie Fedota service ace put the Greyhounds in front by a point late in the fourth, but Radford, a team which made the 2017 NCAA Tournament, rallied to lead 21-20 after Loyola had errors on its serve and the attack.
 
Loyola (1-1 overall) tied the score three times thereafter, the final coming on a Cat Vaccaro kill, but the Highlanders (2-0) got a kill from Mallory McKnight and a block assist by Amaya Rousseau and Samantha Reitz to close out the match.
 
Abby Hamilton led all players with 21 kills in the match, becoming the first Loyola freshman to post 20 or more in a match since Ann Ernst did it five times during the 2016 season. Ernst, for her part, had 18 kills against Radford.
 
Katie Forsythe posted 25 digs to lead all players, the most by a Loyola player since Kara Schiffer had 29 on November 16, 2013. Forsythe is the first Greyhounds freshman with 25 or more digs in a match since the NCAA switched to 25-point scoring (per set) in 2008.
 
Loyola built a 15-10 lead in the first set before Radford climbed back into striking range.  The Highlanders knotted the score on a Haley Kleespies block to make it 20-20. Two Ernst kills would make it 21-20 and 22-21 Greyhounds, but Radford closed out the first match.
 
In the second set, Loyola went up by as many as 10, 15-5, thanks to an 8-0 run, but the Highlanders closed to within two, 21-19. Hamilton responded with a kill for Loyola to stretch the lead back to three, but Radford closed it back to two on a Rousseau kill.
 
Fedota and Haley Puddy had kills on back-to-back points, pushing Loyola ahead 24-20, a lead it would close out to even the match at 1-1.
 
Radford went up by six early in the third, but Loyola used an 8-2 run to tie the set at 20-20 after a Radford service error. The Highlanders never trailed after that, but Loyola tied the score at 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 before the Highlanders tallied the final two points.
 
In addition to the 39 combined kills from Ernst and Hamilton, Puddy finished with eight while Alisah Cash and Vaccaro each had five. Molly Werts led Loyola with 25 assists and also had her second-straight double-double with 11 digs.
 
The Greyhounds will close the Baltimore Bash at 7 p.m. Saturday with a match in Reitz Arena against Towson.