Final Stats

BALTIMORE, Md. - In an epic five-set thriller, the Lafayette volleyball team finished strong and defeated Loyola 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 25-19, 16-25, 15-12) in a road Patriot League contest on Friday night.

Sonia Musso ended her night with a double-double, racking up a team-high 11 kills to go along with 13 digs and five aces. Sophomore setter Maria Balus finished one dig shy of recording a double-double of her own as she concluded the game with 21 assists and nine digs.

The opening set of the match came down to the wire as the Leopards and Greyhounds were neck and neck. Lafayette trailed 22-17, but the Leopards went on a 5-2 run in large part to five consecutive errors by Loyola. Despite the costly errors late, the Greyhounds managed to hang on and claim the set, 25-22.

In the second set, the Greyhounds jumped out to an 8-3 lead over the Leopards. However, after kills by Elizabeth Walsh and Katherine Stevens, as well as a few errors by the Greyhounds, Lafayette was back in the set.

It was 22-16 in favor of the Greyhounds before the Leopards went on a 9-0 run to take a one-point lead. The run forced Loyola to call a timeout and immediately out of the break, the Greyhounds notched back-to-back points. Lafayette then burned a timeout of its own and responded with a 3-0 run that featured kills by Musso, Carly Kutschke and an ace by Balus to take the set.

The third set consisted of a series of lengthy runs. The first was from the Leopards, who carried their momentum from the second set into the third and started things off by taking a 10-2 lead. The Greyhounds quickly countered though with an 8-1 run. Lafayette led by a single point before going on a 9-1 run to take a 20-11 lead.

Loyola had one last push, but despite a pair of short runs, the Leopards still closed things out with a 25-19 set victory.

The fourth set fell heavily in favor of the Greyhounds. After getting the early lead, Loyola was able to maintain its distance, not allowing the Leopards to come closer than within three points. A 9-1 run from Loyola in the middle of the set put the set out of reach as Lafayette was unable to get much going before eventually falling 25-16.

It came down to the fifth set and Lafayette began with a 7-2 run that featured three aces from Musso. After going back and forth for a little while, the score was 10-9 in favor of the Leopards. Lafayette called a timeout and outscored the Greyhounds the rest of the way 5-3 to take the set and conference victory.

The Leopards return to the court tomorrow for a road conference contest at American slated for 2 p.m.