BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland volleyball scored seven of eight points during a key stretch in the fifth set, and the Greyhounds scored a five-set win over visiting Lafayette College, 25-22, 24-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-8, on Saturday in Reitz Arena.
The win also marked the 200th of Head Coach
Alija Pittenger's collegiate coaching career.
Lafayette (8-9 overall, 4-5 Patriot League) tied the fifth set at 4-4 with an Abby Nierporte kill, but Loyola came back with a
Kennedy Stevens kill to take a 5-4 advantage. That kill sparked the 7-1 run that gave the Greyhounds (9-10, 4-5) a commanding edge.
Sophie Brenner had three kills during the stretch, while
Lauren Link added one, and Stevens posted a service ace. Stevens' ace made it 11-5 Greyhounds.
Caitlin Churney had two of her 11 kills after that point, and she teamed with
Kacy Sekunda on the right side to provide a block that would put away the match for the Greyhounds.
Link had a match-high 15 kills, 14 of them coming in the final four sets, to lead five Greyhounds who had nine or more kills.
Morgan Crawford and
Sophie Brenner each had 12, while Churney and Sekunda posted 11 and nine, respectively.
Crawford logged her first collegiate double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs.
Bryanne Soares and Sekunda combined for 61 assists with Soares dishing out 32 and Sekunda 29. They both had nine digs and two service aces, as well, and Sekunda was in on four blocks.
Rose McDermott had 19 digs to lead all players, and Link also had a double-double with 10 digs. Churney and Stevens joined Sekunda for team-high honors with four total blocks.
