The weekend of Nov. 10 and 11 was a big one for Loyola’s women’s volleyball team. They went on the road against the Bucknell Bison and Colgate Raiders in the last games of the 2018 conference season. With these two games, Loyola’s fate hung in the balance. With two wins, Loyola secured their position in the Patriot League tournament. With anything less than two wins, their postseason fate was up in the air.

The first game of the weekend was against Bucknell. The game started rough for the Greyhounds as they lost the first set 13-25. After that set, the game went on for an additional four games. In the end, the Greyhounds did not come out on top. They lost to Bucknell in five: 13-25, 25-14, 25-23, 19-25, and 7-15. It was a tough loss.

In the game, Ann Ernst ‘20 led the Greyhounds with 16 kills followed closely by Haley Puddy ‘19 with 15. Katie Forsythe ‘22 led the team with 22 digs followed by Molly Werts’ 19 with 15 digs. At the end of the day, it was a hard-fought game where the Bison simply came out on top.

Going into their game against Colgate, the Greyhounds were in a must-win situation. If they had any goal of keeping their postseason dreams alive, the team needed a solid win in Hamilton, New York. Even then, their overall position in the league depended on other teams’ performances. There were no guarantees. With this in mind, they headed into their game against the Colgate Raiders.

The Greyhounds came out strong in the first set and never looked back. It was night and day from their performance the night before against Bucknell. Loyola’s volleyball team beat Colgate in four: 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-13. It was a strong game with strong performances all around for the Greyhounds.

Abby Hamilton ‘22 led the team in kills with 16 followed by Ernst and Puddy who each had 9. Hamilton’s stellar performance in the match earned her honorable mention in the Patriot League this week. Molly Jarvis ‘20 led the Greyhounds with three service aces as well as contributing eight kills and three blocks. Werts led the team with 30 assists, and Forsythe led the team with 23 digs. All in all, the numbers were astounding, and a competitive performance gave the Greyhounds the win.

Coming out of the game, though, the fate of the Greyhounds was uncertain. However, their decisive victory meant Loyola’s volleyball secured third place in the Patriot League. With a third place finish, the Greyhounds earned a place in the Patriot League championship for the first time in program history. The team goes up against Navy on Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. at American University in Washington, D.C.

Feature image courtesy of Craig Chase