Match Information
Opponent	American Eagles
Date	Friday, October 20, 2023
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Washington, D.C. | Bender Arena
Getting There	Directions
Watch	ESPN+ | International Video Stream
Live Stats	Click Here
Game Notes	Loyola

Down To D.C.

• The Greyhounds will travel south to the Nation's Capital on Friday, October 20, 2023, for a Patriot League contest at American University.
• First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.
• Loyola defeated the Eagles in three, 25-18,25-18,25-22, earlier this month in Baltimore.

Even 200

• Saturday's win over Lafayette College was the 200th of Loyola Head Coach Alija Pittenger's career. Pittenger is in her ninth season as the Loyola head coach after spending six seasons at Fairfield University.
• She has built the Loyola program into one that has reached the Patriot League Championships four times in the last five seasons after it had not qualified previously.

Last Time Out

• Lauren Link had nine kills to lead Loyola University Maryland on Wednesday night, but the Greyhounds lost in three to the U.S. Naval Academy, 25-16, 25-20, 25-18.
• Morgan Crawford and Caitlin Churney both had six kills for the Greyhounds, while Kacy Sekunda added five. Bryanne Soares totaled 16 assists, and Rose McDermott had a team-high nine digs. 

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.
• Last season, Link moved into a role as the Greyhounds' primary option on the outside, and she had the stats to back it up. In 24 matches, she put away 406 kills, an average of 4.56 per set. Link's 4.56 kills per set were tops in the Patriot League and ninth in the NCAA. She had seven matches with 20 or more kills, 16 with 15-plus, and she has put away 11 or more kills in all but two of the 25 matches Loyola has played this year.
• To start the 2023 season, she has 11 matches with 10 or more kills and one with 20-plus, a season-high 21 coming against Robert Morris. Her 3.25 kills per set lead the Greyhounds and are sixth in the conference.

Settling In On The Outside

• Morgan Crawford had the best back-to-back matches of her freshman season, totaling 24 kills in a pair of matches against Lehigh and Bucknell.
• The native of Richmond, Virginia, hit .210 from the outside and averaged 3.43 kills per set in the matches while finishing second on the team in total kills.
• She entered that weekend averaging 1.86 kills per set, but her most-recent games have moved that number to 2.01.
• Since the start of Patriot League play, Crawford is averaging 2.26 kills per set and has four matches with 10 or more kills. In non-conference matches, she averaged 1.76 per set. 

Churney In The Middle

• Caitlin Churney has led Loyola with a .333 hitting percentage since September 8, totaling 92 kills with only 27 errors in 195 attempts in the 13 matches that included the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic at St. John's and the Greyhounds' 10 Patriot League matches thus far.
• She has hit .400 or higher in five of the last 12 matches (Siena, Stony Brook, Navy) and had a .455 mark with 11 kills and one error versus Navy.
• Churney leads Loyola in blocks this year with 54 total, an average of 0.78 per set. Her season-high of seven came at home against Navy when she had two solos and was in on five others.

Back To The 5-2

• Loyola has played in both a 5-2 and 6-1 this season with Bryanne Soares and Kacy Sekunda splitting setting duties since Sekunda's return from an injury.
• Soares leads Loyola with 489 assists and 7.09 per set, while Sekunda has 205 with an average of 4.77.
• Soares is second on the team with 25 aces (0.36 per set) and digs (167, 2.42), while Sekunda has also made an impact as a front-row hitter. She has two triple-doubles and is averaging 2.16 kills per set (93 total) and 2.25 digs (97).

Scoring On Serves

• Loyola has served more effectively in its last five matches, posting 39 aces for an average of 2.3 per set. Prior to the American match on October 3, the Greyhounds had averaged just 1.37 per set in 15 matches.
• Kennedy Stevens and Bryanne Soares are one-two on the team in aces with 26 and 25 and lead the Greyhounds with eight and nine, respectively, in that stretch.

Brenner Comes Back

• Sophie Brenner missed the first seven matches of the 2023 season with an injury, but she returned at the St. John's tournament and is averaging 2.1 kills per set in the last 13 matches with a season-high 14 coming against Bucknell.
• Last year, she had eight or more kills in 10 of the last 11 matches.