BALTIMORE – Army West Point rallied from down 19-17 to win the first set, propelling the Black Knights to a three-set win over host Loyola University Maryland, 26-24, 25-19, 25-18, on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Greyhounds will enter the Patriot League Championships as the No. 4 seed and host Bucknell University on Tuesday, November 15, in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal match.
Loyola led 19-17 after a
Rose McDermott service ace, but Savannah Bray connected for a sideout kill, and Julia Johnson had a solo block to tie the opening set for the Black Knights. The Greyhounds regained the lead, 20-19, after an Army West Point service error, but the Black Knights reeled off four points in a row to go up three, 23-20.
An Army West Point attack error and a block by
Adara Kellogg and
Ashley Dwyer pulled Loyola within a point, but Allanah Cutler sided out for the Black Knights with a kill, giving them set-point at 24-22. Loyola came back with a
Megan Bukala kill and an Army West Point attack error, tying the set at 24-24, but Paige Fixemer had a sideout kill, and Riley Parchment served an ace to give the Black Knights the early lead in the match.
Army West Point trailed just once early in the second set, but Loyola took a 5-1 lead after six points in the second, forcing a Black Knights timeout. Army West Point then came back to take its first lead at 10-9, and it went up for good on a Fixemer solo block at 14-13.
Bukala led Loyola with 10 kills, while
Sophie Brenner had eight.
Cecylia Guye chipped in with six, and Kellogg and RIley Hamilton each had five.
Ashley Dwyer dished out 32 assists for Loyola, and
Katie Forsythe picked up 22 digs in the match.
