Oct. 23, 2008
Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -
LMU (12-8, 2-4) was swept by West Coast Conference-leader USF (16-4, 6-0), 25-19, 25-18, 25-18, on Thursday in WCC play at San Francisco's War Memorial Gym. With the victory, the Dons, who have won nine straight matches, remain undefeated in the conference. The win also marks the first time in program history that USF has opened WCC play with a 6-0 record. On the other side, LMU remains winless in road matches this year at 0-5.
Freshman Ariana Covington paced the Lion offense with 11 kills on 23 attacks for a .435 hitting percentage. She was followed by sophomore middle blocker Becky Stehling with 10 kills and a match-best .600 hitting percentage. Sophomore Renee Horton dished-out 10 assists, while senior Lauren Kirk amassed a team-high nine digs in the loss. The Lions did manage to out-block the Dons over the course of the match, totaling a block solo and 12 block assists to USF's two block solos and eight block assists.
Sarah Mandala led all hitters with 15 kills at a rate of .591 (15-for-22), while also totaling three digs. Alix Gombos amassed 12 kills at a .579 pace (12-for-19). Darcy Carroll ran the USF offense, dishing-out 34 assists as the Dons hit .345 as a team. The Dons opened the match hitting .316 in the opening set before hitting .341 in set two and .387 in the final set. USF held Loyola Marymount to a .175 clip, including a .091 average in set three. Haley Carroll recorded a match-high 19 digs in the victory.
Covington totaled six of her 11 kills in the first set to lead all players, but the effort proved not enough as USF took set one. Gombos connected on five kills for USF, followed by Carly Babin and Addie Webster with four kills apiece. Babin finished the match with eight kills, four digs and a match-high four blocks, including two solo stuffs. Webster fell just short of a double-double on the night, as the outside hitter posted nine kills with 10 digs.
Mandala picked her pace up in set two, amassing a set-high six kills at a rate of .625. Gombos managed four kills in the set, while Webster contributed seven digs. Senior Emily Day had her best set of the night, posting five kills, an assist, a block assist and three digs. LMU trailed throughout the set, falling behind 10-5 early on a kill by Erin Bragg. The Dons pushed the advantage to 15-10 before winning five of the next eight points to take a 20-13 lead. Anna Berger put the set away a short time later, connecting on a ball from Carroll for the final kill.
Stehling was hot in set three, tallying seven kills on eight swings for a .750 hitting percentage. Unfortunately for LMU, she was the only Lion to show success as the visitors hit .091 in the period. On the other side, Mandala continued to roll with seven kills on nine attacks. She was aided by the play of Gombos and Berger, who each contributed three kills in the set. Despite the extremely low hitting percentage for the Lions, LMU kept the set close early. The two teams battled to 10-7 and then 11-10 before USF gained momentum. The Dons quickly opened-up a 16-11 lead en route to taking a 21-15 advantage to force a Lion timeout. The break did little to change the direction of play, as LMU scored only three more points over the course of the match before falling 25-18.
The Lions return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they visit No. 17 San Diego in West Coast Conference action.
