EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette volleyball team split day two of the Crosstown Invitational, dropping its first match of the day in a close contest to Penn and then going on to defeat University of Maryland Eastern Shore in its second match of the day.

In the first match of the day against Penn (2-1), the Leopards (2-5) put up a fight in the first set of the game coming back to take a 12-11 lead, after being down by two points early on. The Leopards and Quakers would then battle back and forth, being tied nine times in the set before the Quakers pulled ahead to take the set, 29-27.

The Quakers won set two 25-15 but couldn't complete the three set sweep as Lafayette come back to take the third set, 25-20. Penn would close out the win with a close 25-22 win in the fourth set to take the match.

Freshman Ellie Carrera-Justiz led the way for the Maroon and White with 13 kills and 12 digs.

The Leopards came out strong in the second match of the day against University of Maryland Eastern Shore (2-5), quickly taking sets one and two, 25-15 and 25-19, respectively.

Lafayette jumped out to an early lead in the third set and never looked back. The Hawks battled back after a series of service errors by the Leopards to bring the score to 20-21 in favor of the Hawks. The Hawks then took control of the game off two reception errors by the Leopards before putting down a kill to seal the third set victory, 25-23.

The fourth set saw itself tied 12 times as both sides traded multiple attack and service reception errors. The Leopards were able to pull away after back to back kills by senior Katrina Ruggiero and sophomore Leanna Deegan to make the score 22-19 and from there, they were able to take control and claim the set victory 25-23, winning the match and claiming their second win of the season.

Deegan once again led the way for the Leopards in match two, totaling 11 kills, with Ruggiero right behind her with 10.

Lafayette will travel to Teaneck, New Jersey to take on Fairleigh Dickinson University on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match. They are then back at home next weekend, welcoming Merrimack College, Delaware State and Siena, for the Lafayette Invitational.