Final Stats

WORCESTER, Mass. - The Lafayette volleyball team closed out the road portion of its 2016 season with a 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 17-25) loss to Holy Cross in a Patriot League match on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Jet Manzi had the highest kill count for the Leopards (4-20, 2-12 PL) with 18, which ties her season high. She also recorded 10 digs in the loss to the Crusaders (8-19, 4-10 PL), marking her third double-double of the year. Meanwhile, junior Elizabeth Walsh put forth a strong performance, tallying 17 kills on a .342 attack percentage.

Four Leopards finished the game with double-digit digs, but junior Katie Kidder had the most with a game-high 26.

It was a tightly-contested match all afternoon and the Leopards trailed 16-14 in the opening set after a Walsh kill. The Lafayette point sparked a 7-2 run, which gave the Leopards the lead, their first since the early stages of the set. The Crusaders climbed back though and took a 21-20 lead following back-to-back points, but Lafayette responded with a 5-1 run to close out the set.

The Leopards leaned heavily on Walsh and Manzi in the second set. In a back-and-forth affair, Walsh tallied seven kills, while Manzi added five. Lafayette went on a late 4-0 run to go ahead 22-19. However, the Crusaders finished strong and outscored the Maroon and White 6-2 the rest of the way.

Holy Cross carried the momentum into the third set and led nearly the entire way. Trailing 15-9, the Leopards got into a groove and went on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to a single point. The two teams traded scores and despite a late 4-0 run by the Leopards to knot the score up at 21-21, Holy Cross was able to put together four unanswered points to take the set.

The game was decided in the fourth set after Holy Cross tied the game up at 3-3 and never relinquished its lead the rest of the way, ultimately grabbing the victory, 25-17.

The Leopards have just two games remaining on their 2016 campaign. The next outing will be at College Hill on Friday, Nov. 11 when the Leopards play host to Colgate in a Patriot Leageu showdown slated for 7 p.m.