BALTIMORE – All five Loyola University Maryland hitters had five or more kills, and four Greyhounds had six or more digs, on Tuesday night in a balanced team effort to beat American University, 25-18, 25-18, 25-22.
Set Breakdown
- Set One
- Loyola scored the first seven points of the match and never trailed, winning 25-18.
- The Eagles committed three attack errors, and the Greyhounds had kills from Morgan Crawford, Sophie Brenner, Lauren Link and Kennedy Stevens to open up the 7-0 lead.
- American got within two, 16-14, but Loyola came back with a Crawford kill and then two-straight attack errors by the Eagles pushed the lead back to five.
- The Greyhounds held American to only seven first-set kills while they had seven errors in the opening frame.
- Set Two
- American took its first lead of the match at 3-2, but it was short-lived as Link and Caitlin Churney combined for a block to make it 9-9, and a Riley Hamilton ace put Loyola in front, 10-9.
- Holly Hopkins would give American a 14-13 lead with a kill, but again Loyola had an answer. Crawford put away a kill and Bryanne Soares served aces on two of the next three points, and Loyola was in front, 17-14.
- Set Three
- American tied the set at 9-9 on a Greyhounds attack error, but Loyola came back with two-straight points, and they never trailed the rest of the way despite multiple ties.
- The Greyhounds went up 14-10 on a Soares ace, but American came back to tie the set at 15-15.
- It was tied again at 20-20 following another Greyhounds miscue, but an American tip went into the net for an error, and Leah Hunter served an ace to give Loyola a 22-20 lead and force an Eagles timeout.
- Zeynep Uzen had a kill out of the timeout to get American within a point, but Stevens and Link had kills on two of the next three points, and the Greyhounds own an extended rally on match-point with a Churney kill.
Stat Pack
- The Greyhounds had a season-high 11 aces in the match with Hunter and Soares each serving three. Hamilton and Stevens both had two.
- Link and Stevens both had nine kills, while Churney had seven, Brenner six and Crawford five.
- Stevens (.429) and Churney (.400) both hit .400 or higher in the match as Loyola swung at a .224 clip to American's .172.
- Stevens finished with four total blocks, and Crawford had three.
- Soares led all players with 32 assists, and Link tied for match-high honors with nine digs.
Up Next
- Loyola will be on the road Friday night at 7 p.m. to play at Lafayette College.
- The Greyhounds return to Reitz Arena on Sunday, October 8, for a 2 p.m. contest against College of the Holy Cross.
