BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland's volleyball season came to a close Saturday as the Greyhounds lost to host and top-seeded Colgate University, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19, in the Patriot League Semifinals.
The Greyhounds, who were the fourth seed in the tournament, made their second trip to the semifinal round since joining the Patriot League in 2013.
Lauren Link had 14 kills for the Greyhounds, while
Sophie Brenner added nine and
Cecylia Guye tallied seven.
Ashley Dwyer had a match-high 31 assists, and
Katie Forsythe led all players with nine digs.
Colgate, which led throughout the opening set, took a 15-10 lead in the second, but Loyola reeled off 10 of the next 15 points and tied the frame at 20-20 on a Raiders attack error. Colgate called a timeout and then sided out with a Loyola service error, but another hitting miscue by the Raiders pulled the Greyhounds even again at 21-21.
Julia Kurowski sided out for Colgate with a kill, but Link answered with one for Loyola, and the teams were tied again at 22-22. Abby Shadwick, however, had two kills in a row for the Raiders, and then Sophie Thompson and Gillian Hauschild teamed for a Colgate block to put the Raiders up, 2-0.
In the third, Link had two service aces in a row to give Loyola a 14-13 lead, but Colgate scored the next three and lead 16-14 on a Thompson-Shadwick block; the Raiders never trailed from that point forward in the match.
