Bucknell Volleyball Wraps Up Season Friday at Loyola (Md.)

Friday, November 12

Baltimore, Md.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Loyola

Bucknell Volleyball Wraps Up Season Friday at Loyola (Md.)

11/11/2021 12:45:00 PM | Volleyball

Who: Bucknell (7-17, 3-12 PL) at Loyola (15-10, 7-7 PL)
When: Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.
Where: Reitz Arena – Baltimore, Md.
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: LoyolaGreyhounds.com

About the Bison

Bucknell visits the Loyola Greyhounds on Friday for its final match of the 2021 season. With a victory, Bucknell would collect its highest Patriot League win total since 2017. The Bison lost 3-1 against the Greyhounds at home back on Oct. 9.
Bucknell went 1-1 last weekend, defeating Lehigh 3-2 on Friday before falling at Lafayette. Bucknell won the second, fourth and fifth sets against the Mountain Hawks. Jennie Burke and Lisa Zoch posted 15 kills each and were two of three Bison with double-digit kills. Meanwhile, rookie libero Jordan Hardy totaled a career-high 38 digs in the Lehigh win and 50 for the weekend to receive an honorable mention for Patriot League Rookie of the Week.
Hardy currently ranks fifth in the Patriot League in digs per set (4.27). She's been in double figures in the category in all but three matches, and she's eclipsed the 30-dig mark twice. Hardy was a PL Rookie of the Week honoree back on Oct. 26.
Sophomore setter Sarah Ramirez is fifth in the league in assists with 8.58 per set. She eclipsed 40 assists for a fifth time this season in the Lehigh win. The 43 assists were her third-highest total of the season.
Fellow sophomore Catherine Jamison is eighth in the Patriot League in kills per set (2.89), and rookie Jen Sivak ranks ninth in hitting percentage (.270).
Bucknell entered league play 4-5 following three non-conference tournaments. Bucknell wet 2-1 in the season-opening Delaware State tournament, 1-2 at the Penn tournament, and 1-2 at the Cornell Invitational. Bucknell has played two five-setters and has one 3-0 sweep this season.
Bucknell played a truncated season in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic and went 1-3 against Patriot League opponents.
Head coach Tyler Hagstrom is in his second season with the Bison. He previously served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Princeton from 2016 to 2019. With a win on Friday, Hagstrom will pick up his ninth career victory with the Bison.
The Bison returned 13 letterwinners and welcomed four newcomers to the roster, bringing the team total to 17. An outside hitter, a middle blocker and a pair of liberos make up the rookie class, which has seen plenty of playing time through the first three weekends of the season. Hagstrom also added two new assistants, Erin Kretzschmar and Jeremy Young, to the coaching staff.

Scouting Loyola/Series History

The Greyhounds have clinched a spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament and currently sit as the sixth seed with a 15-10 overall record and a 7-7 mark in league play. They won 3-0 at Holy Cross last Friday before falling 3-0 to Army on Saturday. Loyola will also host Colgate after taking on the Bison this weekend. Two wins over the weekend would clinch the five seed for the Greyhounds.
Loyola is currently limiting opponents to a .165 hitting percentage, good enough for second in the league. The Greyhounds are also second in kills per set (13.85) and sit atop the league in assists (12.56/S) and digs (18.21).
Loyola has two of the top 6 kills leaders among the league in senior Abby Hamilton (4.23/S) and sophomore Lauren Link (3.22/S).
Loyola libero Katie Forsythe, who has 2,120 digs in her record-setting career, leads the Patriot League with 5.67 per set. She posted her lowest total of the season (10) in the last match at Army, but she's eclipsed the 20-dig mark 13 times this fall.
Loyola is led by head coach Alija Pittenger, who is 65-114 overall with the team.
Bucknell leads 16-11 in the all-time series with Loyola, dating back to 1984. The series is even at 3-3 over the last six matches.
The Greyhounds won 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22) at Bucknell in the most recent meeting on Oct. 9. The Bison hit .333 in the third set and .406 in the fourth for a .233 mark for the match, and Loyola hit .214 overall. Three Bison reached double-digit kills, led by Libby Nieporte's 16, and Sarah Ramirez provided 45 assists.