ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Loyola consistently made plays down the stretch to come away with a four-set victory over the Navy volleyball team, Friday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House. The Greyhounds (5-9, 3-2) snapped a five-match winning streak by the Mids (6-7, 4-1) with the 27-25, 22-25, 25-17, 27-25 victory.
"Loyola has found its stride recently," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador. "They passed and played a really great defense, which allowed a few hitters to really stretch us. We know the areas where we need to put our attention moving forward. I'm proud of our fighting and battling back in the fourth set."
Set One
The first half of the set was close with neither team gaining an edge until the Mids turned a 14-14 score into a 20-15 lead. The teams traded the next two points, then a Navy service error (21-17) was followed by a kill by the Mids and a Loyola attack error to push the lead to 23-17. Another service error by the Mids was erased by a Navy kill, which took it to set point with a 24-18 lead. Loyola recorded a sideout, which made it a 24-19 score and gave the serve to the Greyhounds.
Dropping back to serve was Addie Huber, who leads the league in aces. She promptly mixed in three aces around several other offerings that were a challenge for the Mids to handle and, despite two timeouts also being called by Labrador, in no time the Greyhounds had erased all six set point opportunities by Navy and tied the score at 24-24.
A Loyola attack error afforded the Mids another chance to serve for the set, but a Loyola kill, a Loyola block and another ace by the Greyhounds gave the visitors the opening frame.
The service line was costly for the Mids in the opening set as not only did Loyola post six aces against just two errors, Navy finished with one ace and five errors.
Set Two
Navy jumped out to 4-0, 7-2 and 9-3 leads, then stretched the margin to 14-6 and 16-8. Back came Loyola and it soon was a 16-14 score. The Mids then built a 21-15 lead before the Greyhounds cut it down to 21-18, 22-20 and then 23-22. A kill by
Farrah Eike took the Mids to set point, which they converted on a kill from
Grace Burgoyne.
Set Three
Loyola was the team to earn a good start in the frame as it took an 11-4 advantage. Navy climbed back into the set as it closed to within 14-12 and then 18-15, but Loyola scored five of the next six points to take a 23-16 lead.
Set Four
The frame would feature 11 ties and three lead changes as the teams went back and forth throughout the set. The score was tied at 20-20, then Loyola took a 23-21 advantage. An attack error by the Greyhounds and a kill from
Hailey Jacobus and the teams were knotted at 23-23. Loyola reached match point on a kill, but Jacobus extended the match with another kill to tie things at 24-24. Another Loyola chance to serve for the match followed after a kill from the Greyhounds, then they thought they had won the match when an attempt by Eike went long. However, Labrador challenge the play and after a video review a touch at the net was called on Loyola which tied the score at 25-25. The Greyhounds posted back-to-back kills to end the match.
Statistical Summary
Navy slightly outhit Loyola, .190-.174, but the Greyhounds totaled 58 aces to 50 by the Mids.
After Loyola recorded a combined eight more points than Navy from the respective service lines in the first set, the teams were even over the remainder of the match as the Greyhounds finished with 10 aces and 7 errors while the Mids tallied 5 aces and 10 errors.
Eike's 20 kills paced Navy with
Ellen Gundlach adding 10.
Isa Boyd dished out 30 assists and dropped in 3 of Navy's aces. Defensively, Chambers grabbed 18 digs, Eike had 16 digs for another double-double and
Siena Morgan had 8 blocks.
Up Next
Navy will play Sunday at American.
