BALTIMORE – The Holy Cross volleyball teams 2026 season came to an end with a 3-0 loss to Patriot League foe Loyola (Md.) Saturday in Reitz Arena.
The Crusaders finished the season at 13-16, 6-10 PL, posted their highest win total since 1989 and most conference victories since 2018. With Colgate's 3-0 win over Lafayette during the match, Holy Cross and Loyola (Md.) (9-16, 7-9 PL) were eliminated from Patriot League Tournament contention.
Sophomore outside hitter
Emma Sorensen recorded a match-high 10 kills with eight digs and one block for the Crusaders while junior middle blocker
Lacey Murphy hit .231 with eight kills and three total blocks. For the Greyhounds, Ava Nepkin had a team-high eight kills to go with 12 digs in the victory.
SET SCORES:
Greyhounds, 3, Crusaders 0 (22-25, 24-26, 23-25)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Sophomore defensive specialist Savannah Baron placed an ace to give her team a 3-1 lead in the opening set. Six straight from the Greyhounds including a trio of aces jumped them back ahead 7-3. A Sorensen kill put the Crusaders down three, 9-6. The Crusaders challenged a call which kept them down three, 11-8. Loyola's edge expanded to 14-8 following two kills and a bad set. They led 15-10 at the media timeout. Loyola came out of the media stoppage and expanded their edge to 19-13 following a kill and Crusader attack error. Behind 23-15, Holy Cross went on a 7-1 run to pull within a pair, 24-22 using two aces from sophomore defensive specialist Elizabeth Hall and a block from freshman setter Drew Flanagan and Lacey Murphy. The Greyhounds clinched the set with a kill for the 1-0 match lead.
- Freshman right side Kat Teepe passed to sophomore outside hitter KK Green for a kill to make the score 4-3 early in the second set. The hosts eventually tied the score and three straight pushed them ahead 10-7. Kills from sophomore middle blocker Kyla Harris, Sorensen and Teepe all from Flanagan kept the Crusaders down one. Ahead 13-12 following the Teepe kill, Loyola used five straight to build an 18-12 advantage as the Crusaders took a timeout. Holy Cross countered with a 10-3 scoring outburst taking the lead, 22-21 off a Flanagan skip set kill off a Hall pass. Loyola tied the score and eventually won the set 26-24 on an ace.
- A block from Lacey Murphy and Sorensen put the guests ahead 4-0 in the third set. A pair of Harris mashes made the Crusader lead six, 8-2. Loyola crawled back into the match dropping the Crusader lead to two, 15-13 at the media timeout. The Greyhounds were trailing by one, however Holy Cross built their biggest lead to that point off a 6-1 burst to lead 21-15 thanks to another Hall ace. The Greyhounds countered with a 6-1 run of their own to again trim the deficit to 22-21 forcing the Crusaders to take a timeout. The timeout worked as Lacey Murphy blocked an attack attempt on the ensuing service. That was the final point for Holy Cross as Loyola scored four straight to complete the sweep.
INSIDE THE BOX:
- Harris' 1.18 block per set mark is highest during a single-season in program history. Her 92.0 total blocks come in tied for seventh on the single-season list.
- Lacey Murphy finished 2026 with 115.0 total blocks which ranks second all-time during a single-season in program history. Her 1.12 blocks per set mark also ranks second on the single-season list.
- Lacey Murphy has 204.0 career blocks and needs two more to move to 10th place on the program's all-time list.
- Sorensen 358 kills in 2026 which ranks 8th during a single-season in program history. She has 670 career kills and needs 86 more to climb to 10th place on the program's all-time list.
- Hall matched a career-high with three aces.
- Baron recorded double-digit digs for the fourth straight match and seventh time in 2026.
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