Oct. 29, 2009

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. - LMU (10-12, 1-7) fell in three sets to Saint Mary's (15-4, 7-1), 25-14, 25-17, 25-18, on Thursday night to start the second half of the West Coast Conference schedule. With the victory and a No. 19 San Diego loss, Saint Mary's took over sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels took all six sets against the Lions this year, earning a sweep of LMU in Gersten Pavilion on October 3.

Despite a match-best 11 kills each from Alaina Bergsma and Ariana Covington, the Lions were unable to claim a victory in any of the three sets on Thursday. No other Lion had more that four kills as LMU hit just .067 as a team on the night. After dishing-out 48 assists in the victory over San Francisco last week, sophomore Alesha Young managed 29 on Thursday. She teamed that mark with 10 digs for a double-double, joining Covington who matched her 11 kills with 12 digs.

Saint Mary's used a balance attack in the match to outdistance the Lions. Lauren Jaeckel and Chanteal Satele each had nine kills, while Shannon Lowell added eight. Kapua Kamana'o and Missy White split time at the setter position, dishing-out 17 and 16 assists, respectively, guiding the Gaels to a .267 combined hitting percentage. Saint Mary's also teamed for 10 total blocks, including block solos from Lauren Corp, Lowell and Megan Burton. Lowell also had six block assists in the victory.

Satele led all players in the first set, notching five kills on six swings to help SMC to a 25-14 victory. Saint Mary's hit .393 in the first period. The match was tied early at four points, but Saint Mary's took over from there. A York kill and a Lion attack error made it 12-8 to force a Lion timeout before the teams played to a 13-10 Gael advantage. The home team rattled-off four straight points to run the tally to 17-10 en route to an 18-14 lead. LMU would not score another point in the set, allowing Saint Mary's to score seven unanswered to take the first.

LMU hit just .039 in the second set as Saint Mary's took the period by a count of 25-17. Covington contributed six kills in the set, but four from Lowell and three from Jaeckel were too much for the Lions. The second set proved much closer than the first as the teams battled to six tie scores and five lead changes. Saint Mary's and LMU were even at 11 and then 13 before the Gaels scored three unanswered points to force a Lion timeout. The break did little to slow momentum as SMC quickly ran the tally to 20-14. The Lions would reach 17 points at 23-17 on a Becky Stehling kill, but the Gaels benefited from two Lion errors to earn the final two points of the set.

Continuing to struggle offensively, LMU hit .050 in the final set. Although it did not hit as well as it did in the first, Saint Mary's did manage a .243 percentage to close-out the match. Jaeckel paved the way to the sweep with six of her nine kills in the final frame, aided by two service aces from White and Lowell. Bergsma contributed four kills on 17 swings for LMU, but it was not nearly enough, as the Lions fell 25-18. Trading blows once again in the set, the two teams fought to a 9-9 stalemate. Unfortunately for LMU, Saint Mary's would score five of the next six points to open-up a 14-10 lead. The advantage continued to 19-15 on a Stehling service error before a Bergsma attack error pushed the Gaels to the 20-point plateau at 20-16. LMU would scratch to within four points at 22-18, but Saint Mary's scored each of the final three points to earn the sweep.

The Lions return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they travel to No. 19 San Diego. After today's matches, the Toreros sit in sole possession of second place in the WCC.