Loyola Maryland Holds Off Lehigh in Five Sets for Second Straight Patriot League Win

By Brian Hradsky

The Loyola Maryland Greyhounds survived a furious Lehigh comeback Saturday afternoon, defeating the Mountain Hawks in five sets, 25-20, 25-16, 18-25, 21-25, 15-12, at Reitz Arena in Baltimore. Loyola won the opening two sets before Lehigh forced a decisive fifth, but the Greyhounds responded with one of their best offensive sets of the match to secure the Patriot League victory.

The victory improved Loyola to 4-8 overall and 2-2 in Patriot League play. More importantly, the Greyhounds earned their second conference victory in as many days after sweeping Bucknell on Friday. Lehigh dropped to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference after suffering its second consecutive five-set defeat.

Loyola Takes Control Early

The Greyhounds came out sharp offensively and hit .286 in the opening set, producing 14 kills against only four errors on 35 attacks. Lehigh committed eight attack errors and hit just .139 as Loyola established control with a 25-20 victory.

Loyola was even more convincing in the second set. The Greyhounds again recorded 14 kills and only four attack errors, hitting .263 while holding Lehigh to a .152 percentage. Loyola rolled to a 25-16 victory and suddenly stood one set away from sweeping a Lehigh team that entered the weekend with only one loss.

Lehigh, however, did not go quietly.

Lehigh Forces a Fifth Set

The Mountain Hawks dramatically improved their efficiency in the third set. Lehigh committed only one attack error while hitting .391 and took the set 25-18.

Loyola’s offense went in the opposite direction. After hitting better than .260 in each of the first two sets, the Greyhounds fell to .172 in the third.

Lehigh kept the pressure on during the fourth. Loyola managed only 11 kills with eight errors and hit .081, allowing the Mountain Hawks to take a 25-21 victory and erase Loyola’s two-set advantage.

The Greyhounds suddenly faced a difficult situation. They had gone from controlling the match to playing a race to 15 against a Lehigh team that entered Saturday 9-2.

Loyola responded.

Greyhounds Deliver When It Matters

The fifth set featured multiple ties and lead changes, but Loyola repeatedly found answers whenever Lehigh threatened to take control.

Sydnee Peters made one of the first critical defensive plays, recording a solo block against Mary Massias to put Loyola ahead 3-2. After Lehigh tied the set at four, Ava Nepkin and Elsie Afful combined to block Massias and keep the Greyhounds in front.

Lehigh eventually took leads of 7-6 and 8-7. Both times, Morgan Crawford responded with kills from the left side.

Following Crawford’s second kill, Madison Monahan set Peters on the right side and Peters put down her career-high ninth kill, giving Loyola a 9-8 advantage. Peters and Afful then combined to block Ufuoma Omene, extending Loyola’s lead to 10-8 and forcing Lehigh to call timeout.

The Mountain Hawks still had one more push.

Lehigh tied the deciding set at 11, but Gabi Verdicchio found Afful in the middle for a kill that put Loyola back ahead. After another Lehigh sideout, Crawford delivered again, recording a kill that made it 13-12.

Then came one of the biggest serves of the afternoon.

Sarah Tate entered and immediately delivered her first service ace of the season, giving Loyola match point at 14-12. Addie Lowe finished it on the next point with a right-side kill, completing the 15-12 fifth-set victory.

Loyola hit .290 in the deciding set with 11 kills and only two errors. That ability to regain its offensive efficiency after struggling during the third and fourth sets ultimately made the difference.

Afful Delivers Career Performance

Afful put together one of her best matches as a Greyhound.

She recorded career highs with 12 kills, eight total blocks, three service aces and 19.5 points. Her presence at the net became especially important in the fifth set, where Loyola needed several blocks to prevent Lehigh from taking control.

Nepkin led Loyola offensively with 15 kills and added 10 digs for a double-double. She also recorded four blocks and two service aces, contributing in nearly every phase of the match.

Crawford delivered another double-double with 12 kills and a career-high 19 digs. Her biggest contributions came during the deciding set when she twice erased one-point Lehigh leads with kills and later gave Loyola its 13-12 advantage.

Peters also established career highs with nine kills and five blocks. Lowe finished with nine kills while hitting .368, including the swing that ended the match.

Greyhounds Get Contributions Throughout Lineup

Loyola’s setters effectively distributed the attack.

Monahan recorded 31 assists, while Verdicchio added 23 as the pair combined for 54 of Loyola’s 59 assists. Addie Huber led all players with 20 digs.

The overall numbers showed how complete Loyola’s performance was.

The Greyhounds finished with a 63-56 advantage in kills, an 8-6 advantage in service aces and a significant 12-5 advantage in blocks. Loyola also outhit Lehigh .218 to .192 for the match.

Lehigh’s Alysia Fingall led all players with 16 kills, while Olivia Lasee added 12. Sophia Bond had 15 digs, and setters Abby Felkai and Grace Slovensky combined for 45 assists.

Important Weekend for Loyola

The victory completed a significant turnaround for the Greyhounds after they began Patriot League competition with losses at Army West Point and Colgate.

Loyola returned home and swept Bucknell 3-0 on Friday, recording 46 kills and hitting .226. Less than 24 hours later, the Greyhounds followed with their five-set victory over a Lehigh team that had started the season 9-1 before losing five-set matches against American and Loyola on consecutive days.

That moved Loyola back to .500 in Patriot League play at 2-2.

The Greyhounds also showed two different ways they can win. Loyola controlled Bucknell in straight sets and then had to withstand considerable adversity against Lehigh.

The latter may prove more valuable as conference play continues.

MSB Take

This was an impressive win for Loyola Maryland because of how easily the match could have slipped away.

The Greyhounds had a 2-0 advantage and appeared to be headed toward their second sweep in as many days. Instead, Lehigh responded by winning two consecutive sets and entered the fifth with all the momentum.

Loyola did not panic.

Crawford produced kills when Lehigh moved ahead, Peters and Afful came through with critical blocks, Afful delivered a huge kill after the score reached 11-11 and Tate provided perhaps the most timely service ace of the entire afternoon.

The numbers also show this was not simply a lucky five-set escape. Loyola had more kills, more aces, more blocks and a better hitting percentage than Lehigh.

After beginning Patriot League play 0-2, Loyola has responded with consecutive victories. If the Greyhounds can continue getting production from throughout the lineup like they received against Lehigh, this weekend could become the point where their season started moving in a much different direction.