BALTIMORE – Ann Ernst put away 19 kills with a .485 hitting percentage on Saturday, leading Loyola University Maryland to a 25-18, 25-22, 25-19 victory over visiting Lafayette College as the Greyhounds hit a season-best .355 in the Patriot League match.
 
Ernst posted her 19 kills on just 33 swings with only three errors. Combined with last night's 22-kill performance in a five-set win over Bucknell University, the senior outside hitter averaged 5.1 kills per set in two Loyola wins this weekend.
 
Abby Hamilton added 16 kills while hitting at a .286 clip, and Cecylia Guye had seven kills on only 12 swings to go with five total blocks.
 
Ashley Dwyer directed the Greyhounds' offense with 45 assists. Katie Forsythe led the way defensively with 23 digs, and Mackenzie Fedota posted four service aces.
 
The Leopards (11-8 overall, 0-3 Patriot League) opened up an 11-7 lead on a Kelly Austin kill early in the first set, and they extended it to 15-12 on a Grace Tulevech kill.
 
Loyola (10-8, 3-1), however, came out of the media timeout and scored five in a row, three on Fedota aces, to take the lead, 18-15. Lafayette sided out on a kill by Elli Carrera-Justiz, but Megan Bukala had a kill in kind for the Greyhounds which was followed by two from Ernst bookending one from Guye. Ernst's second of that series made it 22-16 Loyola and the Leopards scored just two more as the Greyhounds closed out the set.
 
Ernst had seven of her kills in the opening stanza on only 10 swings without making an error.
 
Lafayette again took an early lead in the second set, going up 9-4 after a Greyhounds attack error, but Loyola chipped away and led 13-12 on a Guye kill. The set was tied nine times thereafter, the last coming at 22-22 when Austin and Tulevech had a block for Lafayette.
 
Hamilton ended the stanza, however, with three-straight kills for the Greyhounds, and Loyola had a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Leopards took a 13-9 third-set advantage on back-to-back blocks, but Loyola came back to tie the set at 14-14 when Adara Kellogg put away an overpass with a kill. Lafayette took one more lead on the next point before Loyola reeled off four points in a row for a 20-17 advantage that it would carry through to the match win.
 
At 3-1, the Greyhounds are off to their best start in the Patriot League since joining the conference for the 2013 season.