BALTIMORE, Md. –– In what was yet another close match played between the teams, Loyola (9-3, 1-0) put together strong runs late in sets one and two on its way to defeating the Navy volleyball team (4-6, 0-1), 25-23, 25-18, 25-23, Sunday afternoon at Reitz Arena in Baltimore.  The match was the Patriot League opener for each team.

"Loyola has a nice combination of elite level defenders who give them possessions and opportunities to score, and three pin hitters who can pick their offensive spots and don't make errors," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.

Close sets have been the rule and not the exception when these two teams have met recently.  The teams played a trio of five-set matches this spring and 21 of the last 34 sets played between the teams entering today were decided by either two or three points.

Navy held a 23-18 lead in set one, but Loyola closed the frame on a 7-0 run to take a 1-0 advantage in sets.

The teams were tied at 17 in set two when Loyola scored the next six points to jump in front, 23-17.  That was enough of a cushion for the Greyhounds to win the set and take a 2-0 lead.

The third set was tied at 19 when Loyola registered back-to-back kills to take a 21-19 lead.  The teams played sideout volleyball over the rest of the set.

Navy was outhit by Loyola in the match, 303-.157.  Most of that margin came in the second set as the Greyhounds held a .359-.000 advantage over the Mids.  Loyola recorded 45 kills and just eight attack errors in the match, limited Navy to 36 kills and forced the Mids into 17 attack errors.  Take out the second set and the Loyola advantages were just one in kills (30-29) and three in attack errors (10-7).

Helping the Greyhounds to those leads were their grabbing four more digs (63-59) and totaling four more blocks (7-3) than the Mids.

Individually, Loyola had three players post at least 10 kills in contrast to Cami Herman's (Sr., Brookfield, Wis.) 11 kills making her the only Mid to reach double figures.  Additionally for Navy, Kimberly Lynch (Sr., Murrietta, Calif.) snared 20 digs and Avery Stowell (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) dropped in three of Navy's four service aces.

"Kimberly passed a solid match and kept us in some of the rallies with her defense," said Labrador.  "We will regroup and tighten up a few things with our front-row players as we head into a tough weekend at home."

Navy will be home this week for matches Friday against Colgate and Saturday against Army.  Each match starts at 7 p.m.