BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Three Loyola University Maryland volleyball players had 10 or more kills, and the Greyhounds hit .270 as a team in a three-set Patriot League sweep of host Lehigh University, 25-22, 25-20, 27-20, on Friday night.
Morgan Crawford had a season-high 11 kills to lead the Greyhounds while
Lauren Link and
Kacy Sekunda each added 10.
The Greyhounds hit .289 in the opening set and had only 10 hitting errors through two during the win.
Lehigh trailed by just two, 15-13, in the first after a Loyola serving error, but Caitlin Chruney had a kill to sideout for the Greyhounds, and her block on the next point pushed Loyola's lead to four.
A Link kill later made it 20-15 in Loyola's favor, but the Mountain Hawks came back with three-straight points to narrow the gap to 20-18. Sekunda sided out with a kill for Loyola, but Lehigh came back with a pair of points to make it a 21-20 Loyola lead.
Link and
Riley Hamilton each had kills for Loyola, and after one by the Mountain Hawks,
Mariah Sanabia put one away to give the Greyhounds set point. Crawford ended the frame with one of her 11 kills.
The second set was tied at 16-16 before two attack errors by Lehigh and a Crawford kill put Loyola up three.
Lehigh would get back within two, 22-20, after a Greyhounds' ball-handling error, but Sekunda had a kill for sideout, and the Mountain Hawks then committed hitting errors to put Loyola up two sets to none.
Loyola was two points from closing out the match in the third when leading 23-20, but Lehigh scored the next three to tie at 23-23 after an Emily Stewart-Alysia Fingall block.
The teams traded the next four points to be tied at 25-25. Link gave Loyola the advantage with a kill, and Sanabia had a block to end the set and give the Greyhounds their second sweep in as many matches.
Link also had a match-high 18 digs to be one of three Greyhounds with a double-double.
Bryanne Soares had 19 assists and 10 digs, while Sekunda posted 10 kills and 17 digs.
The Greyhounds continue their road swing on Saturday with a 4 p.m. match at Lafayette C
