Sept. 18, 2004
Box Score
Chapel Hill, NC - Loyola Marymount pushed game one to 32-30, but could not hang on against No. 1 Minnesota (9-1) in Saturday's early morning action at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic hosted by North Carolina. Despite Krista Houseman's 15-kill performance, the Lions (7-3) fell 32-30, 30-20, 30-23 to the nation's top team.
The Lions posted twice as many service aces as Minnnesota, with Kelli Nerison, Nicole Oehlman, Sandy Krone, and West Coast Conference ace-leader Heather Hughes each tallying two service aces on the match. But a hot Minnesota team out-hit the 20th-ranked Lions .514 to .119 in game two.
LMU took a 28-29 lead on a kill by senior Kelli Nerison in game one. A tough call then gave North Carolina the 30-29 advantage when a Houseman attack was called out. Houseman would return right out of a LMU timeout to perfectly place a kill to tie the game again at 30. But the top-ranked Gophers rallied off two points to steal the first game 32-30.
Minnesota rode its first-game momentum through the rest of the match, taking games two and three 30-20 and 30-23. Oehlman had the Lions within one point at 22-21 in the third game after her second service ace, but the Gophers took off on a 8-2 run to secure the match.
The Lions are 0-2 at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic, and will wrap up tournament play against Rice (0-1) this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. Fans can follow the action live on Gametracker at www.LMULions.com.
-GO LIONS-
