The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Loyola (Md.)
Volleyball Falls to Loyola in Charm City Challenge Finale, 3-1
September 03 | Women's Volleyball
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BALTIMORE, Md. – Akron put together a dominating performance in the third set, and nearly pulled off a late upset in the fourth, but the effort fell short in a 3-1 loss to Loyola (Md.) on Saturday, Sept. 3 at RAC Arena (23-25, 20-25, 25-18, 21-25).
Sophomores Patience Brown (Bloomington, Ill.) and Madi Baer (Stow, Ohio) paced the Zips (2-4) with 11 kills each while junior Jessica Kloehn (Milwaukee, Wis.) posted 10 kills of her own. Additionally, Brown was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts over the three matches this weekend.
Senior setter Karley Kusan (Columbus, Ohio) kept the offense running smoothly with 35 assists while also adding a team-high 17 digs.
Loyola (2-1) was led by Ann Ernst's 24 kills and .340 hitting percentage.
"It was a tough match that went back and forth all afternoon," said head coach Tom Hanna. "It seemed like half the match was played with the score tied or a one-point difference. Unfortunately, we were not consistent enough to pull out the win."
The Zips snuck one by Loyola (Md.) in the third set but it was not enough as the loss dropped the Zips to 2-4 on the season.
Trailing after the first set, UA put together another close second stanza as the score stood even 14-all. A service error halted a three-point run by the Greyhounds although Loyola then pushed its lead 20-15 after three UA errors. The Zips battled back within two points, 22-20, but Loyola closed out the set with three points in a row.
Akron ran away with the third set and never trailed after a 2-2 tie to win the stanza. The fourth set would also go down to the wire, but the Zips ran out of steam and could not make the most of a 15-all tie, coming up just short.
The Zips come home to host its 22nd Annual Akron Invitational with a match on Friday against Canisius (7 p.m.) while play wraps up Saturday, Sept. 10, with matches versus Eastern Kentucky at 12:30 p.m. and Youngstown State at 7 p.m.
