Aug. 30, 2008
Box Score
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -
LMU (2-0) earned its first sweep of the season, blanking Central Arkansas (0-2), 25-22, 25-21, 25-20, in match two of the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic on Saturday. Senior Emily Day once again led the Lions to the victory, notching her second consecutive double-double after teaming a match-best 16 kills with 12 digs. Sophomore Becky Stehling contributed 10 kills and hit .350 (10-for-20) in the win.
Sophomore Renee Horton set the Lion the offense and narrowly missed her first double-double of the season, posting 32 assists and collecting nine digs. Freshman Alesha Young matched Day's mark of 12 digs to share the team-lead in that category, while senior Lauren Kirk tallied 11 digs and two service aces.
No Sugar Bear player collected double-digit kills, paced by seven apiece from Emily Gordon and Evaree Franklin. Setter Robyn Smith posted 23 assists, while Kelly Bence received the bulk of the digs with a match-high 17. For the second consecutive match, LMU did a stellar job of holding its opponent to low hitting percentages. Central Arkansas managed to post marks of .114 (12-for-44), .061 (six-for-33) and -.023 (11-for-43) over the course of the match. The Lions, who managed three total blocks in the final set, collected six total team blocks in the match, led by Day and Megan Nash with a block solo and two block assists apiece.
Day and Stehling came out swinging in set one, posting six kills apiece over the span. Stehling was especially impressive, hitting .500 (six-for-10) in the period and making only one error. Horton also excelled in the set, notching nearly half of her assists with 14. LMU took an early 4-1 lead after a Nash kill and back-to-back Sugar Bear attack errors. The Lions would maintain the four-point advantage to 10-6 before Central Arkansas posted three straight points, including two of Gordon's five kills in the set, to cut the lead to 10-9. The two teams entered a see-saw battle that saw eight ties to a score of 19-19. Stehling and the Lions quickly took control of the situation, posting four unanswered points, including three of Stehling's six kills in the set, to give the Lions a 23-19 advantage. After LMU advanced to set-point at 24-20 on a Sugar Bear service error, Gordon and Chloe Smith posted back-to-back kills to force a Lion timeout. The break proved beneficial as LMU came out of the huddle and quickly put the set away on a Day kill to go ahead 1-0 in the match score.
The Lions had to erase an early 7-3 deficit in set two after Kelly Bence notched back-to-back service aces for the Sugar Bears to force the first LMU timeout of the period. Nash came out of the break strong, posting one of her three kills and a block solo to run the tally to 7-5. The Lions benefitted from a service error at 9-7 to inch closer to Central Arkansas before Kirk took to the serve and contributed back-to-back service aces as part of a four-point swing to force a Sugar Bear timeout at 13-10. The Lions started to run away with the set after the break, getting two kills from Day, a kill from Nash and a service ace from Horton to take an 18-12 lead. Following two Central Arkansas points, Nash and freshman Ariana Covington posted kills to push the Lions to the 20-point plateau at 20-14. A quick Sugar Bear run forced a Lion timeout at 21-18, but LMU eventually earned the set victory at 25-21 on a Horton kill to go up 2-0 in the match.
Set three began as a closely-contested battle as the two teams played to an 8-8 tie early, guided on the LMU side by Day's two kills and one block solo over the span. Day, who finished with six kills in the final set, got a little help from Nash just a few points later, as they teamed to stuff Smith at the net to put the Lions up 12-10. Sensing another LMU run after a Central Arkansas attack error to extend the lead to 13-10, Sugar Bear head coach Steven McRoberts decided to call a timeout to settle his players. Day and the Lions refused to surrender momentum, as the senior posted three more kills en route to a 17-13 LMU advantage. Central Arkansas managed to cut the deficit to 18-16, but the Lions quickly rebounded to take a 21-17 lead and force another Sugar Bear timeout. The timeout had a short-term effect on the Lions as Central Arkansas clawed its way back to 22-20. Fortunately for LMU, that would be as close as the opposition would get, as the Lions notched three unanswered points, including a service and attack error by Central Arkansas, to take the match at 25-20.
LMU will complete play at the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic tonight at 6:30 p.m. as they take on the University of New Mexico in the final match of the tournament. The Lobos swept Central Arkansas last night, and will play Idaho State today at 12 p.m. before meeting the Lions. The match between the Lions and Lobos can be viewed via Gametracker at the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic Tournament Central.
