Sept. 12, 2008

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - LMU (5-3) opened up its play in the Sheraton Four Points LAX/LMU Volleyball Classic with some of the team's best play of the year in a three sets to none victory over the Pitt (3-5) Panthers. The Lions won each set convincingly, posting set wins of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-19.

Emily Day led LMU on offense with 11 kills in 38 attempts for a .079 hitting percentage. Erin Downey was more efficient (6-for-11) for a hitting percentage of .455 in posting the second highest number of kills on the team.

The Panthers were hurt from the start of the game by errors, and as a team they finished with .037 hitting percentage. Amy Town posted the most kills for Pitt with 10 in 26 attempts for a .269 hitting percentage.

The very first point of the match was scored on a kill by the Lions' Downey off an assist from Renee Horton. That would be a common theme throughout as Horton led the team with 22 assists. From there, the first set was back-and-forth for the first half of the game, with the teams tied at eight. LMU then went on a four-point run forcing Pitt to call a timeout. Pitt crept back in it to get the score to 12-11, two of the points coming off of kills by Town. LMU put the game away from there, though, as they increased their lead up to 19-14, causing Pitt to call another timeout. Their momentum, however, was not slowed as they continued to roll and won the set on a combined block from Downey and Nash.

The Lions then jumped on Pitt from the start in the second set. After the Panthers went up 2-1, LMU scored 10 straight points to take an 11-2 lead. Nine of the points came off the serve of Diana Hiromoto, including two straight aces at the beginning of the streak. The Panthers finally scored on a block and then went on a five-point run of their own, during which Kelly Campbell had two of her eight kills. The five straight points by Pitt only stopped the bleeding and LMU pushed the lead higher throughout the rest of the set. Hiromoto book ended a great set by serving the last three points for the 25-13 set win. The Lions had their highest hitting percentage of the match in this set at .344 (13-for-32).

Pitt came out visibly fired up to start to third set, not wanting to get shut out. It worked early as they scored the first two points of the set on a kill. It was not enough, however, as the rest of the set was much of the same from the first two. The Panthers continued to make errors and finished the set with a .000 hitting percentage, just as they did in the first period of play. LMU slowly pushed the lead up throughout the game, with their biggest lead being seven points at 20-13. Day had one of her three aces to give the Lions a 23-16 lead. After Pitt scored three points to make the game tight, Horton combined with Megan Nash, who led the team with six blocks, on a block that put the Lions one point away from winning the match. LMU won the match on the next point on a block by Horton and Becky Stehling.

The Lions play their next game of the tournament against San Jose State at noon on Saturday.