Penn State Invitational
Location	University Park, Pennsylvania | Rec Hall
Getting There	Directions
Game Notes	Loyola
Opponent	Duquesne Dukes
Date	Friday, August 26, 2022
Time	10:00 a.m.
Online Media	Live Stats | B1G+ ($ Video)
Opponent	West Virginia Mountaineers
Date	Friday, August 26, 2022
Time	12:00 p.m.
Online Media	Live Stats | B1G+ ($ Video)
Opponent	Penn State Nittany Lions
Date	Saturday, August 27, 2021
Time	11:00 a.m.
Online Media	Live Stats | B1G+ ($ Video)

Getting Things Started

• Loyola University Maryland volleyball opens its 2022 campaign this weekend with a trio of matches at the Penn State Invitational in University Park, Pennsylvania.
• The Greyhounds will begin the tournament with a 10:00 a.m. match on Friday, August 26, against Duquesne before facing West Virginia that afternoon at 12 noon. A date with the host Nittany Lions wraps up the tournament for Loyola on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
• All of the games will be played in Penn State's Rec Hall with live streaming available on B1G+.

Looking To Get Back

• Loyola opens the year looking to return to the Patriot League Championships for the fourth time in as many full seasons. The Greyhounds reached the league playoffs for the first time in 2018 after joining the conference in 2014. They then repeated the feat in 2019 and last year (2021).

All Of The Records

• Katie Forsythe became the Patriot League and Loyola all-time record holder in digs on October 23, 2021, matching her previous status atop both the conference and school lists for digs in a season and a match.
• In that match at American, Forsythe had her 2,013th career dig early in the contest, passing the Eagles' Kristen Largay (2016-19) for tops in the conference; late in the match, she moved past Brittany Born's mark of 2,042 to set the school record.
• She opens the 2022 season with 2,201 career digs.
• In 2019, she set the school record, and tied the Patriot League mark with 45 digs in a match, and her 753 digs that season stand as a school and conference mark.
• Forsythe is the NCAA Division I active career leader in digs per set with 5.93, a mark that ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history.
• The four-time Patriot League Libero of the Year has finished in the top four of Division I players in digs per set during all three of her collegiate seasons, ranking fourth in 2018, third in 2019 and fourth in 2020. Her averages of 5.86, 6.17 and 6.04 are the three highest in Patriot League history. Last year, she ranked third in NCAA Division I with 5.71 digs per set.
• She was the first player in Loyola history to earn American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region honors, doing so in 2019 when she was also named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, and she repeated those honors last year in 2021.. She was invited to Colorado Springs for Team USA tryouts following the 2019 season.

Link-ing The Kills

• Lauren Link broke out as a sophomore outside hitter for the Greyhounds in 2021, finishing second on the team with 3.24 kills per set, a mark good for fifth-best in the Patriot League.
• She had 17 matches with 10 or more kills, including each of the Greyhounds' last 13 contests. During that stretch, she averaged 14.1 kills per match and 3.6 kills per set.
• Link was also hitting at a high clip, putting away balls at a .199 mark from the outside after hitting .140 in 2020 as a freshman.

Sophomore Sets It Up

• Kacy Sekunda moved into the primary setting role for the Greyhounds during the second weekend of 2021, and she handled the role with poise. She was second in the Patriot League in assists per set (9.82), and she also hit .260 with 90 kills.
• Sekunda's assists mark ranked No. 13 in NCAA Division I amongst freshmen setters.
• She was a four-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, won the conference's Player of the Week in September, and she was runner-up for Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors to Army West Point's Diana Ethridge.

Both Sides of the Net

• The Greyhounds were near the top of the Patriot League in both hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage last season,. They held other teams to a .162 mark in 28 matches, a percentage that led the conference and was No. 21 in NCAA Division I last year. Loyola was sixth in all of Division I in digs per set (18.41) with a dig total of 1,878 that was 36th.
• Their success was not limited to the defensive side of the net, as the Greyhounds were third in the Patriot League in hitting percentage, swinging at a .201 clip. They were first in the conference, and are 42nd in Division I in kills per set with 13.65.

Look Alikes

• Riley Hamilton comes to Loyola as a freshman outside hitter with more than just a familiar last name. She is the younger sister of Abby who graduated in May 2022 after earning All-Patriot League First Team and Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors for the Greyhounds.
• The elder Hamilton finished fifth all-time at Loyola with 1,340 kills and fourth with 3.61 kills per set.