Oct. 22, 2009

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - LMU (9-11, 0-6) dropped its eighth consecutive match on Thursday, this time falling in four sets to WCC-foe Santa Clara (12-9, 2-4) by scores of 28-26, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17 in Gersten Pavilion.

The Lions were out-hit .318 to .223 in the match, while both squads served-up three aces and 11 service errors. Freshman Alaina Bergsma continued to shine for LMU, turning in a superb performance with 17 kills on 40 attacks for a .300 hitting percentage. The native of Chandler, Ariz. committed only five errors in the loss. Sophomore Ariana Covington was one of two Lions with a double-double, teaming 11 kills with 14 digs and a service ace. Junior Becky Stehling rounded-out a trio of Lions with double-digit kills, posting 10 on 27 attacks. Stehling, Bergsma and sophomore setter Alesha Young each collected a block solo for LMU defensively. Young accompanied Covington with a double-double, pairing 10 digs and 37 assists. She also added four kills, including two in the LMU third-set victory.

Lindsy Davigeadono paced the Santa Clara attack on the night, posting a match-high 20 kills on 29 attacks for a .621 hitting percentage. She made just two errors in the four sets of play. Not to be outdone, Katherine Douglas connected for a .467 hitting percentage, taking 30 total swings and recording 16 kills to just two errors. Douglas was the lone Bronco with a double-double, teaming the 16 kills with 12 digs. Bridget O'Hara led all players in digs with 17, while Dana Knudsen was a force to be reckoned with at the net, collecting five block solos and one block assist.

Santa Clara got the best of LMU in set one, a period that proved fairly even with 13 tie scores and eight lead changes. Knudsen collected six of her 16 kills in the first set alone to guide the Broncos to the early 1-0 match lead. A balanced attack of four kills apiece from Covington, Stehling and Bergsma was not enough for the Lions as they dropped the set, 28-26. The Lions escaped set points at 25-24 and 26-25, with the latter coming on a Stehling kill, but they could not fight-off another Bronco advance. Back-to-back Lion errors, including a service error from Covington and a bad set from Young, handed the Broncos the set.

LMU claimed a very early 2-0 lead in the second set, but it was the Broncos that once again claimed the win. Douglas chipped-in five more kills on 10 attacks for Santa Clara, teaming with four kills on eight swings from Davigeadono to guide the team to a blistering .444 hitting percentage. Covington had her best set in the second, claiming four kills and four digs, while taking just eight swings and committing one error. The teams played even to six points before Santa Clara started to pull-away to a 15-10 lead on a Covington attack error. That lead grew to 21-14 on a Douglas kill before the Lions crawled back within four points at 21-17, highlighted by kills from Covington, Stehling and sophomore Jasmine Rankins, to force a Bronco timeout. The break served its purpose as Santa Clara emerged from the huddle and quickly earned the 25-19 victory.

In a set that looked very similar to the first of the match, LMU emerged as the victor in the third. Bergsma came alive in the period, claiming six of her 17 kills in the third set alone. Stehling added three kills for LMU, while Young converted both of her dump attempts offensively at the net. LMU posted its best hitting percentage of the night in the third, connecting at a .308 clip and holding Santa Clara to a .250 mark on the other side of the net. The two teams found themselves tied at every point from 18 to 24, but a Bergsma kill handed the Lions a set-point opportunity at 25-24. Megan Nash ensured that the Lions would play another set, finding the floor off of a Young set for the winner.

Davigeadono had an outstanding set in the fourth, posting nine kills on 10 attacks to guide Santa Clara to the victory in the match. Only two other Bronco players had more than one kill, both with two, but the nine from Davigeadono were more than enough. Carrying a bit of momentum into the fourth set, LMU jumped-out to an early 10-5 advantage in the period. The advantage remained comfortable at 16-11 before Santa Clara caught fire. The Broncos rallied to score the next four points to cut the deficit to one and force a Lion timeout. The pause did nothing to slow the stride of the Broncos as they continued the run to a 21-16 lead, a string of 10 unanswered points overall. The Lions managed just one more point the entire way, earning that tally on a Santa Clara service error. In all, Santa Clara scored 14 of the final 15 points in the match to earn the win.

LMU will return to action on Saturday when it hosts San Francisco in LMU's "DiG PiNK" match to benefit the Side-Out Foundation and breast cancer research. Donations will be accepted at the match, or to make a donation online, please visit: www.side-out.org/application/teams/team_page/1213