Sept. 10, 2004
Los Angeles, Calif. - Loyola Marymount volleyball opened the 2004 LMU Furama Hotel Invitational with a 3-0 sweep of the University of Miami Friday evening in Gersten Pavilion. Four Lions registered double-digit kills, as LMU out-hit Miami .327 to .189.
Junior Krista Houseman led the Lions for the second straight match, posting a career-high 14 kills while hitting .321. Dina DeBernardi tallied 11 kills and four blocks, while Kelli Nerison and Heather Hughes each had 10 kills. Nerison, the 2003 West Coast Conference leader in blocks, tallied a match-high six.
Setter Nicole Oehlman, returning to the starting lineup after being sidelined Tuesday due to a brief illness, led the Lions' offense to a team hitting percentage of .327. Oehlman added 40 assists and five kills of her own, hitting .714.
Both teams opened the match as hot-hitters, as LMU hit .395, while Miami posted a team average of .368 in game one. DeBernardi broke a 22-22 tie with her first of two service aces on the night. Nerison gave the Lions a two point advantage at 26-24 with a kill, and the Lions took game one 30-26.
The Lions jumped to a 10-5 lead in the second game, before Miami rallied to tie the game at 27. But LMU held the Hurricanes to a .116 hitting percentage and took back-to-back points to win game two 31-29.
DeBernardi led a rally in game three, posting a kill and a block for back-to-back points. Oehlman followed with a kill of her own to put LMU up 16-9. Nerison earned match point for the Lions with her tenth kill of the night, and Houseman sealed the deal after being set-up by Oehlman.
"We faced some really good competition in these two tournaments," Houseman said. "But we've been working really hard in practice and it's carrying over into the matches."
Junior Michelle Look, making her first start of the season, led all Lions with 10 digs.
Karla Johnson tallied a match-high 16 kills for the Hurricanes.
Miami will turn around and play tomorrow's early match, taking on Washington State at 10:00 a.m. as the LMU Furama Hotel Invitational continues. The Lions will face Cincinnati at 12:30 p.m. Fans can follow all of the action of the invitational on the tournament page at www.LMULions.com.
-GO LIONS-
