Nov. 21, 2009

Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - LMU (12-16, 3-11) dropped a four-set match to Santa Clara (17-12, 7-7) on the road on Saturday afternoon to close West Coast Conference play. The Lions were defeated by scores of 25-10, 25-19, 19-25, 25-13.

The Lions hit just .133 over the course of the match, with the lone bright spot coming in the third-set victory when they hit a combined .400 (15-1/35). LMU distributed the ball well in the loss, as Megan Nash, Ariana Covington and Becky Stehling each collected nine kills. The Lions, who entered the week ranked first in aces in the WCC, managed just two on Saturday, both coming from sophomore Jasmine Rankins. Nash and Stehling proved to be the highlights for LMU, with Nash hitting .381 with 11 digs, a block solo and a block assist. Stehling teamed her nine kills with five block assists to pace LMU on the block. Freshman Nikki Lane continued to serve as the Lion starting setter, passing-out 39 assists over the four sets.

Lindsy Davigeadono paced all players with 13 kills on 19 attacks with no errors to post a blistering .684 hitting percentage. Tanya Schmidt was second on the team with 10 kills on 23 swings for a .348 hitting percentage. Emily Burke set the offense for Santa Clara, dishing-out 38 assists to help SCU to a .263 team hitting percentage. Unlike the Lions, Santa Clara excelled from the service area, collecting eight total aces, highlighted by three from Schmidt and two from Katherine Douglas. The Broncos managed 10 total team blocks over the four sets, with five block assists coming from both Davigeadono and Dana Knudsen.

Santa Clara came out swinging in set one, racing to a 25-10 victory. Davigeadono and Douglas each had three kills as the Broncos hit .391 as a team. A huge part of their success came from the service area, where they totaled five aces, including three from Schmidt. Freshman Kenna Crouse totaled four of her six match kills in the first set alone, but no other Lion had more than two. Santa Clara scored the first five points and 13 of the first 14 en route to a commanding 13-1 lead. The Broncos reached the 20-point plateau at 20-6 on a Knudsen kill and took the set to set-point before LMU reached 10 points. A Crouse kill at 24-9 allowed LMU to reach the 10-point mark, but Douglas answered on the ensuing play to record the set victory.

Neither team hit well in the second set, as LMU posted a -.032 mark to SCU's .194. Four kills apiece from Davigeadono and Schmidt were just enough to overcome five from Stehling for the Lions, as Santa Clara took the set, 25-19. The set featured 11 tie scores and two lead changes, with the final tie coming at 14-14. Santa Clara then took an 18-16 lead en route to scoring five of the next six points to lead 23-17. The Lions spoiled one set-point chance at 24-18 as Stehling collected a kill, but a Crouse service error spelled doom for the Lions in the set.

Trailing two sets to none, LMU avoided the sweep by taking the third set, 25-19. LMU hit .400, led by Rankins with five kills on nine swings and two service aces, en route to the victory. Like set two, the third set was also close, as the two teams played to eight tie scores with four lead changes. After playing even to 16, LMU took the upper-hand when Stehling, Felicia Arriola and Rankins combined for three unanswered kills to put the Lions on top at 19-16. The Lions would run the tally to 23-17 with another quality run of play en route to taking the set to set-point at 24-19 on a Covington kill. A Santa Clara attack error on the ensuing play handed LMU the victory.

Refusing to let LMU carry any momentum into the fourth, Santa Clara regained composure and outdistanced the Lions, 25-13. Kayla Lommori led the way for the Broncos, collecting seven kills on 11 swings in the period. The Lions, who hit .073 to Santa Clara's .324, were led by Rankins with three more kills. The fourth set featured only one tie score, coming at 1-1, before Santa Clara ran away from LMU. The Broncos led 15-6 en route to taking a 10-point lead at 20-10 on a Stehling attack error. After LMU responded with back-to-back points to run the tally to 20-12, Santa Clara rattled-off four unanswered points to take a match-point lead at 24-12. LMU spoiled one match-point chance on a Covington kill before Lommori found the floor for the final time on Saturday to end the match.

The Lions will conclude the 2009 season on the road at Long Beach State on Saturday at 12 p.m.