PITTSBURGH – Loyola University Maryland volleyball rallied from two sets down on Friday night for a five-set victory over Robert Morris in a day that the Greyhounds split a pair of matches to start the Chick-fil-A Robinson Classic.
Duquesne 3, Loyola 1 (25-27, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17)
- Loyola trailed 17-16 in the first set after Duquesne's Ariel Helm put away a kill, but the Greyhounds scored four of the next six points to lead, 20-18, after a Sarah Tate ace.
- Ava Nepkin put away a kill to make it 22-19, but the Dukes rallied to tie at 23-23 with a Hanna Wilson ace.
- Nepkin and Elsie Afful locked up a block on Duquesne's Carsyn Henschen to give Loyola its first game-point, but the Dukes scored the next two and a Henschen kill gave them a chance to close the set at 25-24.
- Kacy Sekunda sided out with a kill for the Greyhounds after a timeout, and then Riley Hamilton put away two kills to close the set for Loyola.
- Duquesne rallied, however, and won the final three sets for the match victory.
- Sekunda made her season debut and had a double-double with 14 kills and 15 assists, just missing out a triple-double with eight digs.
- Hamilton posted a double-double, as well, the fourth of her career. She had 11 kills and 11 digs to go with two aces.
- Maggie Smith distributed 24 kills and added her first collegiate double-double with 11 digs.
- Addie Huber led Loyola with 17 digs, and Nepkin had a pair of blocks to lead the team.
Loyola 3, Robert Morris 2 (17-25, 15-25, 25-11, 25-19, 16-14)
- The Greyhounds went down two sets to none before hitting .292 in the final two frames to stage a five-set win over the host Colonials.
- Friday night's win was the first by Loyola after going down 2-0 in a match since it beat Army West Point in five on October 5, 2018.
- Kacy Sekunda recorded her 13th career double-double – second-most among active NCAA Division I players – with a career-high 19 kills, 20 assists and 16 digs.
- Riley Hamilton and Morgan Crawford both had 12 kills, and Addie Huber added a career-best 21 digs.
- The Greyhounds led 10-6 in the third set before going on an 8-0 run that they extended to 12-3 in building a 22-9 lead to keep the match going.
- Loyola led 18-12 in the fourth after a Crawford kill, but Robert Morris drew within a point, 18-17, by scoring the next five. Crawford sided out with a kill to start a 3-0 run for the Greyhounds, and Sekunda ended the set with a kill to push the match to five.
- The Colonials scored four of the first six points in the fifth, but Loyola tallied four of the next five to lead, 6-5, after a Mariah Sanabia block.
- Crawford later pushed the lead to three, 10-7, with a kill, but Robert Morris came back to tie the score at 11, 12 and 13.
- Sekunda gave Loyola match-point at 14-13 with a kill, but the Colonials evened the score again at 14-14 with a Hillarie Adams kill.
- A Colonials hitting error sided out for the Greyhounds, giving them their second match-point, and Hamilton ended the contest with a kill off a Sekunda assist.
Up Next
- Loyola will close the tournament on Saturday when it plays Fairleigh Dickinson in a 12 noon match at Robert Morris.
