Bucknell Volleyball Falls in Five-Setter at Loyola

Friday, October 4

Baltimore, Md.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

12-3, 1-2PL

Loyola Maryland

9-8, 2-1PL

Bucknell

Loyola Maryland

Bucknell Volleyball Falls in Five-Setter at Loyola

10/4/2019 10:09:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Bucknell volleyball team battled from two sets down to force a fifth and deciding frame, but host Loyola made the final push and took the match 25-22, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25, 15-8 on Friday night at Reitz Arena. The loss dropped the Bison to 12-3 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League, while Loyola upped its mark to 9-8, 2-1.

Senior libero Brooke Stark was one of the stars of the night for the Bison. She tallied a career-high 37 digs to lead all players in the match. It was her second 30-dig performance of the season, surpassing her 34 against Central Connecticut State on Sept. 14.

Stark upped her career total to 1,195 digs and moved into fourth place on Bucknell's career list.

Mimi Richards led three Bison in double figures with 13 kills and a .333 hitting percentage to go along with four total blocks. Anna Carroll and Sophie Bullard added 10 kills apiece, and Bullard made it a double-double with 10 digs.

Ann Ernst paced Loyola with 22 kills and 24 digs, while Abby Hamilton added 20 kills, including three in a row to close out the match.

Loyola fought off a four-point deficit and a set point at 23-24 to come from behind and swipe the second set and take a seemingly commanding lead in the match. But the Bison had other ideas.

Trailing 17-13 in the third set, Bucknell went on a 5-1 run and knotted the score at 18-all after back-to-back kills from Bullard. After the teams traded points until 20-20, a put-away by Carroll followed by two Greyhounds miscues have the Bison a 23-20 lead. Loyola crawled back within a single point, but a Hamilton error on set point kept Bucknell alive in the match.

The fourth set was another nailbiter. The frame was tied on nine different occasions, the last at 19-19. Kelsey O'Loughlin (41 assists) set up Bullard for a kill to break that deadlock, and then O'Loughlin's service ace gave the Bison some breathing room. Richards brought Bucknell to set point with a kill, and then two points later she ended it with a solo block on Mackenzie Fedota.

The Greyhounds took control of the deciding fifth set midway through. Tied at 6-6, a combined block from Megan Bukala and Cecylia Guye put Loyola in front for good. Two kills and a service ace from Ernst pushed the margin to 10-7, and later it was Hamilton with three straight kills to help Loyola improve to 5-1 at home this season.

Bucknell hit .171 in the match, compared to .218 for Loyola. The Bison outblocked the Greyhounds 8-3. Bucknell committed only 15 attack errors in the match, compared to 34 for Loyola, but the Greyhounds led 81-44 in kills.

Bucknell's southern road trip continues on Saturday with a 2 p.m. visit to American. The Eagles swept Lehigh 3-0 on Friday night to improve to 2-1 in Patriot League play.