Oct. 31, 2009

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - LMU (10-13, 1-8) was swept for the second consecutive match, this time falling in three sets to No. 19 San Diego (15-5, 7-2), 25-16, 25-17, 25-21, on Saturday afternoon on the road in West Coast Conference action.

Freshman Alaina Bergsma led all players with 15 kills on Saturday, but it was not enough as LMU hit .240 as a team and allowed a .358 mark on the other side of the net in the loss. Bergsma teamed the 15 kills with a service ace and three digs to lead all players with 16 points. Junior Becky Stehling did her part offensively for LMU, collecting six kills on 10 attacks with only one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Sophomore Alesha Young dished-out 23 assists in the loss.

San Diego used a fairly balanced attack, benefitting from four different players with eight or more kills. Ali Troost paced the quartet with 12 kills on the day, followed by Kelsi Myers, Colleen Carlson and Carrie Baird with eight apiece. Myers also had 29 assists, a service ace and four digs serving as the Torero setter, turning-in an all-around solid day on the court.

The Toreros earned a 25-16 victory in set one, led by Baird with five of her kills in the first set alone. LMU hit just .152 in the period, paced by freshman Kenna Crouse with three kills and a service ace. After battling to an early 6-6 tie, USD won each of the next five points to take a comfortable 11-6 advantage. LMU cut the deficit to two points at 13-11, but the Toreros regained composure and a solid lead at 18-12, highlighted by a pair of Lion attack errors and two kills from Amber Tatsch. A Baird kill pushed the set to its final point at 24-15 before Crouse erred on a serve to hand USD the set.

San Diego led the entire way in the second set, a period that saw five kills from Troost and four apiece from Myers and Carlson. LMU managed to hit .357 in the set, led by six kills on 11 attacks from Bergsma, but San Diego hit a blistering .593 as a team, also collecting two service aces along the way. Myers was a perfect 4-for-4 in hitting, while Troost was 5-for-6 with no errors. San Diego held a narrow lead through the first half of the set, earning a 13-10 advantage on a Carlson kill. That lead advanced to 16-12 on a Bergsma attack error, forcing a Lion timeout. San Diego continued to march toward the win out of the break, pushing the lead to 21-14 on a Myers service ace to force LMU's last timeout of the period. The Lions managed to spoil three set-points starting at 24-14, but another Lion service error, this one charged to sophomore Ariana Covington, once again spelled doom for the Lions.

In what proved to be the closest set of the three, USD earned a 25-21 victory in the third to sweep the Lions. Troost contributed five more kills for San Diego as the team hit .238 in the period. Bergsma gave it her best effort, notching seven kills on 17 swings for LMU. The two teams traded blows throughout the period, playing to ties at each point from 15 to 19. LMU led as late as 19-18, but the Toreros refused to allow LMU to gain any real momentum. After knotting the tally at 19, USD opened-up a 22-19 advantage on kills from Tatsch and Myers. LMU would put forth one more outstanding push, cutting the lead to one at 22-21 on back-to-back swings from Bergsma. Unfortunately for the Lions, USD would score each of the final three points, including the last two by way of Bergsma attack errors, to earn the sweep.

LMU will return to action on November 5 at home as it begins a three-match homestand starting with Gonzaga at 7 p.m.