Sept. 7, 2011
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette volleyball team overcame an early deficit to take a 2-1 lead over Loyola (Md.) on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, but the visiting Greyhounds fought back and took the last two sets to steal a 3-2 win. The five-set match was claimed by set scores of 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17 and 15-11.
With the loss, the Leopards fall to 3-2 on the young season. Loyola improves to 3-5 in victory.
Junior Kaitlynn Zoller led all players with 18 for the Leopards - the most by a Lafayette player in a match this season. Freshman Danielle Towslee followed with seven kills, as nine Leopards recorded finishers in the contest. Junior Sarah Frohnapfel ran the offense from the setter slot and distributed 32 assists in addition to four kills of her own.
Defensively, Christy Mebust posted a team-best 18 digs and contributed in the serving game with two aces. Freshmen Michelle Woodworth set a career mark with 15 digs, and Zoller added 10 to round out her second career double-double.
Towslee and fellow freshman Camissa Beghou led the effort at the net with four blocks apiece. Frohnapfel also had a hand in three rejections. The Greyhounds held an 8-7 lead in blocks overall, with four of the visitors' blocks coming in the deciding fifth frame.
After the squads split the first two frames by identical scores of 25-21, the Leopards faced a 22-17 deficit in set three. Lafayette fired back with seven straight points - fueled by strong service from Mebust and two Zoller kills - to earn a set-point opportunity at 24-22. Loyola would thwart an initial attempt to trim the deficit to 24-23, but Zoller slammed home the deciding point on the next rally to put the Leopards on top, 2-1.
The Greyhounds responded with their backs against the wall, as set four was the most lopsided of the evening. Loyola never trailed in the stanza and led by as many as eight points in an eventual 25-17 win to force a deciding fifth frame.
The Leopards came out firing in the fifth set with three straight points, but the Greyhounds would go on to win eight of the next nine rallies to take an 8-4 lead. Lafayette struck back to eventually tie the score at 11-11, but the home team would not change the scoreboard again as Loyola escaped College Hill with a 15-11 win to clinch the 3-2 triumph.
Tina Catanach (17 kills, 15 digs) and Lauren Andersen (46 assists, 11 kills) each posted a double-double in the winning effort for the Greyhounds.
The Maroon and White return to action this weekend with three matches in Providence, R.I. at the Friar Classic. The Leopards will challenge Coppin State on Friday and then meet St. Francis (N.Y.) and the host Friars on Sept. 10.
