ARLINGTON, Texas. – Loyola University Maryland opened the 2018 Maverick Classic by hitting .325 in the first set, going the entire stanza without an error, but the Greyhounds did not hit above .075 in the remaining three frames, and the U.S. Air Force Academy came away with a 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23 victory over the Greyhounds.
Loyola returns to the court at 5 p.m. (Eastern)/4 p.m. (Central) to face Binghamton University in the tournament hosted by UT Arlington.
The Greyhounds fell behind by four in the early part of the first set with Air Force (3-1 overall) leading, 11-7, but Loyola (2-2) rallied to tie the score at 14-14 on a
Haley Puddy kill. A ball-handling error charged to the Falcons gave Loyola a 15-14 lead, its first advantage since it was ahead, 3-2.
Air Force tied the set at 15-15 and 16-16 before three-straight errors by the Falcons put Loyola in front, 19-16. A
Mackenzie Fedota kill, one of her three in the first set, gave Loyola set-point at 24-19, but Air Force fought off the Greyhounds with four-straight points to close within one, 24-23, on an Elizabeth Pennington kill.
Abby Hamilton, however, put the set away in the Greyhounds' column with a kill of her own, staking Loyola to a 1-0 lead.
Loyola took 40 swings in the first set and finished with 13 kills without an error for a .325 hitting percentage. That offensive success would swing, however, as the Greyhounds swung at a .043 clip (29 kills, 24 errors, 115 attempts) for the remainder of the match.
Three Air Force players had 10 or more kills, led by 17 from Denise Ssozi and 13 from Pennington. Ssozi and Abigail Miksch each had double-doubles for Air Force; Ssozi had 14 digs, while Miksch added 12 kills and a team-best 18 digs.
Hamilton led Loyola with 12 kills, picking up her second double-double of the year with 10 digs.
Molly Werts had her fourth double-double in as many matches this season with 20 assists and 22 digs.
Katie Forsythe matched her for team-high honors with 22 digs.
Alisah Cash led Loyola with five total blocks.
