BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Loyola University Maryland sophomore Katie Forsythe broke her own school and Patriot League single-season digs record as the Greyhounds defeated Lehigh in four sets on Tuesday night, 30-28, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22. The victory clinched a spot in the Patriot League tournament for the second-straight season for the Greyhounds, who will either be the No. 5 or No. 6 seed.
 
Forsythe recorded 26 digs in the match, giving her an even 700 on the season and eclipsing her mark of 697 from last season. She ranks third all-time at Loyola with 1,397 career digs in less than two full seasons.
 
Abby Hamilton notched 21 kills and 16 digs while Ann Ernst added 19 kills 23 digs for the Greyhounds. Hannah Wright led Lehigh (13-16, 6-9 Patriot League) with 14 kills and added 11 digs. Ashley Hamilton finished with 52 digs, her most in a Patriot League match this year.
 
The match started with a wild first set that saw the Mountain Hawks jump out to twin three-point advantages early, the latest coming at 7-4 before the Greyhounds (13-16, 6-9) battled back to even the set at 7-7 after an Ernst kill.
 
Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the set after that. The Mountain Hawks fought off set-point three times before the Greyhounds put it away with kills from Megan Bukala and Ernst, finishing an extended, 30-28 frame.
 
After the Lehigh evened the match with a second set win, the Greyhounds gained separation in the third set with a five-point run to take a 17-12 lead that they would never relinquish. Lehigh would get within a point at 17-16 but Ernst notched a kill to stymie the Mountain Hawks momentum. Loyola went on to a 25-21 set win to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
 
The Greyhounds jumped all over Lehigh in the fourth set, building a 17-8 lead after a kill from Hamilton. Lehigh, however, continued to hang around in the match after winning 11 of the next 12 points to take a 19-18 lead as they looked to even the match.
 
The Greyhounds fell behind, 21-20 , but tallied the final five points of the set on kills from Ashley Dwyer and Molly Jarvis, a Jarvis block, a Lehigh error and finally a match-ending kill from Hamilton to win the set 25-21 and the match three-sets-to-one.
 
The win was first for the Greyhounds over Lehigh in Patriot League play and first overall since 2002.
 
Loyola concludes Patriot League regular season action on Saturday afternoon as the Greyhounds host Army at 2 p.m. Prior to the game, the Greyhounds will honor their two senior players, Ann Ernst and Molly Jarvis, and their senior manager, Jacob Rombach.