BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland rallied from a first-set loss to hit .256 in the final three frames for a 17-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17 win at Coppin State University on Tuesday night in non-conference action.
Lauren Link had her third-straight game with 21 or more kills, tallying 22, while
Megan Bukala and
Caitlin Churney each had 10 for the Greyhounds.
Kacy Sekunda directed the Loyola offense with 51 assists, and
Katie Forsythe had three aces and 29 digs.
Coppin State (2-2 overall) went on a 6-2 run midway through the first set to turn a 14-14 tie score into a 20-14 advantage on a Greyhounds attack error. The Eagles sided out at a 76 percent clip in the opening stanza and gained an early advantage in the match.
Loyola (2-2) led by five, 9-4, early in the second after a Bukala kill, but Coppin State came back to get within a point at17-16 and three other times during the set. Hope Casel put away a kill to make it 24-23 in Loyola's favor, forcing a Greyhounds timeout, and Link put away a kill off a long rally to secure the set and even the match at 1-1.
Trailing 6-5 near the beginning of the third set,
Riley Hamilton came in to serve for the Greyhounds, and the Greyhounds reeled off four points in a row. Churney and
Cecylia Guye had kills during the stretch, and after a Coppin State hitting miscue, they combined for a block that made it 9-6 Loyola.
The Eagles sided out with a Casel kill out of a timeout, but Churney sided out for the Greyhounds, and then had another kill with Forsythe serving as part of a 5-0 Loyola run that put the Greyhounds in command, 15-8.
Miajavon Coleman and Geraldyn Palacios locked up a block for the Eagles to draw the score to 11-10 in the fourth set, but that was as close as Coppin State would get the rest of the way. Link reeled off three-straight kills to open up a four-point lead en route to the win.
Loyola will head to Dover, Delaware, for three matches this weekend at the Hornet Invitational. The Greyhounds will face Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 2, before taking on Hartford and host Delaware State on Saturday, September 3, at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
