WORCESTER, Mass. –
Lauren Link and
Riley Hamilton combined for 30 kills and 26 digs on Friday evening to pace the Loyola University Maryland volleyball team to a four-set win at Holy Cross, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-14.
Link, who entered the weekend leading the Patriot League in kills per set, had her eighth-straight match with 12 or more kills, putting away a match-best 19 while also picking up 12 digs.
Hamilton, meanwhile, logged her second-straight outing with 10 or more kills, swinging for 11 while she chipped in with 14 digs.
The two Greyhounds outside hitters combined to hit .319 in the match. Hamilton had only two errors in 24 swings and hit .375, while Link put away kills at a .292 clip.
Defensively,
Bryanne Soares and
Leah Hunter led Loyola with 17 digs each, and Soares also had a match-high 23 assists.
Loyola opened up a 1-0 lead in the match after winning the first behind five kills in five swings by
Kacy Sekunda, but the Crusaders rallied on their home floor to hit .333 in the second and even the match at a set a piece.
Neither Hamilton, nor Link, made an error in the third set, and Loyola turned a 9-8 lead early in the stanza into a 20-14 margin on two-straight Hamilton service aces.
The Greyhounds then led by as many as 14 points in the fourth set, holding the Crusaders to only four kills and a -.062 hitting percentage.
Caitln Churney added eight kills, Sekunda posted seven and
Morgan Crawford had six. Hunter had a match-high three service aces.
Loyola will continue its road trip on Saturday from the Hudson Valley where it will face Army West Point at 4 p.m.
