Match Information
Opponent	American Eagles | Patriot League Quarterfinals
Date	Tuesday, November 14, 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

Postseason Play

• The Loyola University Maryland volleyball team opens play in the 2023 Patriot League Volleyball Championships on Tuesday, November 14, when it travels to Washington, D.C., for a 7 p.m. match at American University.
• The winner of the contest will head to Colgate University for the semifinals that begin on Friday, November 17.
• All Championships matches will stream live on ESPN+.

Patriot League Championships History

• Loyola is making its fifth all-time appearance in the Patriot League Championships, all of which have come in the last six years. The Greyhounds, who joined the conference prior to the 2013 season, qualified for the 2018 tournament and lost in the semifinal round to eventual champion Navy. They then faced Army West Point in the 2019 quarterfinal round and American in the 2021 quarterfinal.
• Last year, the Greyhounds' victory over Bucknell in the quarterfinal was their first win in the Patriot League Championships. They then lost to eventual champion Colgate in the semifinal round.
• The Greyhounds are one of four teams – joining American, Colgate and Navy – to have qualified for each of the last five full-season Championships.

1,000-Kill Threshold

• Lauren Link became the 13th player in Loyola history to cross the 1,000-kill plateau when she picked up her eighth kill of Saturday's regular-season finale at Holy Cross. 
• Link hit the mark in her 78th career match. She has averaged 3.68 kills across 274 career sets.

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.
• During the 2023 season, she has 15 matches with 10 or more kills and one with 20-plus, a season-high 21 coming against Robert Morris. Her 3.27 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 earlier this year 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 in those matches.
• 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 2.16 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 .263 hitting percentage since September 8, totaling 123 kills with only 41 errors in 312 attempts in those 18 matches that included the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic at St. John's and the Greyhounds' 15 Patriot League matches in which she played.
• She has hit .400 or higher in five of the last 18 matches (Siena, Stony Brook, Navy) and had a .455 mark with 11 kills and one error versus Navy at home.
• Churney leads Loyola in blocks this year with 63 total, an average of 0.76 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 608 assists and 6.71 per set, while Sekunda has 292 with an average of 4.63.
• Soares is second on the team with 29 aces (0.32 per set) and digs (227, 2.52), while Sekunda has also made an impact as a front-row hitter. She has four triple-doubles and is averaging 2.24 kills per set (141 total) and 2.24 digs (140).

Talking Triple Doubles

• Kacy Sekunda has four triple doubles this season, a total that is tied for fourth in NCAA Division I. 
• She posted two in the first two weeks of the season – in wins over Robert Morris and West Virginia – and her second pair have come in the last two weeks – wins over Army West Point and Holy Cross. She just missed a quadruple double against the Crusaders, finishing two blocks shy.