WORCESTER, Mass. – Freshman setter/right side KK Green and junior outside hitter Taliah Lee posted 20 kills apiece as the Holy Cross volleyball team rallied from a two set match deficit to defeat Patriot League opponent Lafayette 3-2 Saturday evening on Senior Night in the Hart Center Arena.

The win ends the Crusaders season at 9-23, 3-13 PL while the loss sends the Leopards to 4-22, 2-14 PL. The nine wins for Holy Cross were their most in a season since 2016 (10) and their three Patriot League victories were their most since 2020 (five).

Before the match, the Crusaders held their Senior Night ceremonies honoring setter Katie Russell and right side Gracie Reisman. Russell had a huge performance doling out 57 assists with 18 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and eighth time in her career.

Green and Lee starred on the night with career performances. Green established a new career-high with 20 kills hitting .264 with a personal-best 11 digs and career-high four total blocks for the double-double effort, the first of her collegiate career. Lee's 20 kills was also a career-high as she hit .250 with nine digs. Freshman outside hitter Emma Sorensen recorded 17 kills with six digs and four blocks for the Crusaders as well.

SET SCORES:
Crusaders 3, Leopards 2 (18-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 14-16)

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• Trailing 9-4 in the first set, five straight points for Holy Cross with four coming off a Sorensen swing leveled the set 9-9. Lafayette led 15-12 at the media stoppage. Following the media timeout, the Leopards expanded their lead to 19-13. Holy Cross tallied three in a row getting a Lee and sophomore middle blocker Lacey Murphy block with kills from Murphy and Reisman pulling the team within three, 19-16. Lafayette captured the set 25-18.
• The Leopards took an early 4-3 edge in the second set. Murphy connected on a Russell set for the 8-6 Crusader margin. Down a pair, 12-10, the Leopards strung together five straight points for the 15-12 advantage. Back-to-back kills on the outside from Green brought her team within one, 19-18. Holy Cross reached set point following a Lafayette attack error at 24-23. The Leopards put together the final three points for the 2-0 match lead.
• A Lafayette block on their right side gave them a 6-4 score in the third set. Russell aced the Leopards for Holy Cross' first lead of the third set 9-8. Lafayette jumped back ahead 15-13 at the media timeout. The Crusaders regained the lead 17-15 after four straight getting a freshman middle blocker Kyla Harris block in the middle. Following a timeout, Harris and Russell combined for a block to continue the run and make it 18-15. The Leopards leaped back ahead 21-20, but Holy Cross produced the final five markers with two Green kills clinching the set.
• Holy Cross started off strong in the fourth set building a 6-1 edge early. Green and Harris teamed up for a block to build the margin to 13-6. Four in a row from Lafayette brought them right back into the stanza at 13-10. Holy Cross' lead grew to four, 20-16 late as Green placed the ball in the middle of the court. The Leopards came within one, 23-22, but two straight Lee kills sent the match the distance.
• Harris and Sorensen blocked an attack attempt for the 4-3 Crusader edge in the fifth set. The Crusaders switched sides with an 8-6 advantage. A massive block on the outside from Murphy and Green made it 9-6. Lafayette responded with a 5-1 scoring binge to take a 11-10 lead. Facing match point, the Leopards tied it up 14 all. Russell set up Sorensen and Murphy for the match clinching points.

INSIDE THE BOX:

• Russell finished her Crusader career with 1,674 career assists, good enough for sixth place on the program's all-time list.
• Russell has two of the three highest single-match assist totals in the Patriot League this season (65, vs. New Haven – 57 vs. Lafayette).
• Murphy completed the season with 0.96 blocks per set which is fifth on the program's single-season list and 86 total blocks which ranks seventh place in a single-season.
• Murphy needs 117 more blocks to crack the top-10 on the program's all-time career block list.
• Sorensen (310) and Lee (302) finished the season with 300+ kills.
• Harris matched a career-best with eight total blocks.
• Freshman defensive specialist Elizabeth Hall posted a team-best 19 digs, her eighth straight match with double-digit digs.

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