EASTON, Pa. – Loyola University Maryland sophomore outside hitter
Abby Hamilton cranked out 23 kills with just one error, hitting .468 on Friday night as the Greyhounds downed host Lafayette College, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-14.
Hamilton's total set a new career-high, eclipsing the 21 she had on August 25, 2018, in her second career game, a four-set win over Radford University. Her hitting percentage on Friday was also a career-best, topping her .366 effort earlier this year against NJIT.
Things started slowly on offense for the Greyhounds (12-13 overall, 5-6 Patriot League), however, as Lafayette held Loyola to just .098 in the first set. Meanwhile, the Leopards swung at a .261 clip with 16 first-set kills to win the opening frame.
The Leopards took a 19-17 lead in the second set on a Leanna Deegan block, but Loyola reeled off six-straight points, highlights by a pair of
Adara Kellogg-
Ann Ernst blocks, to go up 23-19 en route to tying the set at 1-1.
Loyola scored 12 of the third set's first 15 points with Hamilton and Ernst each having three kills among those points. An Ernst swing for a kill later made it 14-5 Loyola, but Lafayette tallied six in a row to get within three on a Greyhounds hitting error. Loyola replied with four of the next five to take back command of the set.
Lafayette stayed close in the fourth set as Kelly Austin and Grace Tulevich had a block to draw within three, 14-11, but three of the next four by the Greyhounds extended the advantage to 17-12.
An ace by the Leopards' Jenna Bailey made it a four-point set again, 18-14, but Loyola tallied the match's final seven points to claim the win.
Ernst contributed 17 kills, while
Megan Bukala had nine and
Molly Jarvis added eight for the Greyhounds.
Katie Forsythe tallied 29 digs, and Corinne FIlograna had a career-best 19.
Ernst moved into eight place on the Patriot League career kills chart with 1,488. Forsythe's 29 digs took her 2019 total to 607, good for third on the Patriot League's single-season chart.
Loyola is back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania for another Patriot League contest against Bucknell University.
