The first weekend of October was big for Loyola’s volleyball team. Over the weekend, the girls came up against Army West Point and Holy Cross to begin their month of home games. The team came out 2-0, beating Army West Point in 5 sets and Holy Cross in 4 sets.
The Army game was intense, and it didn’t start out too well for the Greyhounds. Army took an early lead by winning the first two games, but their lead didn’t stop the Greyhounds from fighting back. The big change came in the third game when the Greyhounds went from a .042 to a .243 hitting percentage. Ann Ernst, ‘20, led the team with 20 kills throughout the five sets, followed by Abby Hamilton, ‘22, who contributed 12 kills and Cat Vaccaro, ‘22, with seven kills.
The Friday night game was also a huge defensive show. Both teams had over 100 digs each in the game. Katie Forsythe, ‘22. led the Greyhounds with 34 digs, followed by Ernst with 20, Hamilton with 17 and then Molly Werts, ‘19, with 16. Blocking also pushed the Greyhounds forward. Molly Jarvis, ‘20, earned 13 blocks–not only the most of any player in the Patriot League this season but breaking a school record and becoming fourth of all time in Division I NCAA stats.
After the amazing win, the Greyhounds came back Saturday afternoon, hungry to make the weekend 2-0. They came out early against Holy Cross with a 2-0 lead, fell short during the third set and then came out victorious in the fourth. The game against the Crusaders was a tough fight. Ernst and Hamilton led the team with 13 kills each, while Forsythe broke her previous school record with 42 digs. During the game, Mackenzie Fedota, ‘21, also set a career best with 10 blocks throughout the four sets. This made her the third player in Loyola history to register 10 blocks in a match.
Overall, it was a successful weekend for the Greyhounds. The girls’ performances led to two Patriot League honors for the week: Forsythe earned Rookie of the Week yet again and Ernst earned Player of the Week honors. Forsythe is now ranked second in both total digs and digs per set in the entire NCAA Division I while Ernst earned two double-doubles as well as her second 20-20 stat match of her collegiate career.
Loyola’s women’s volleyball team returns to Reitz this weekend with Bucknell on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. and Colgate on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.
Feature Image: Courtesy of Craig Chase
