Aug. 28, 2009

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas - LMU (1-0) came out strong in its season-opener on Friday at the Texas Christian University Invitational, sweeping Grambling State (0-1), 25-15, 25-15, 25-18. The Lions hit .459 and made just five attack errors over the course of the match. Defensively, LMU held the Tigers to a .110 hitting percentage and recorded 10.5 blocks, including a match-high four block assists from Alaina Bergsma and Ariana Covington. With the win, the Lions have now won 12 of their last 13 season-openers, including having recorded seven sweeps over that span.

Bergsma proved to a major part of the Lion success across the board, tallying a match-best 11 kills and two service aces to go with her four block assists. If there was one shortcoming of the Lion game on Friday it was service errors, as the team missed on eight occasions, including four from Bergsma. Junior Becky Stehling, who entered the year ranked third in career hitting percentage, continued to be efficient in the season opener, hitting .692 and recording nine kills and no errors over the match, including .750 (3-0/4) in the first set alone. Sophomore Alesha Young got the bulk of the setting duties on Friday night, dishing-out 25 assists to guide LMU to the stellar hitting percentage. Freshman Olivia Bailey also found time on the floor as a setter, collecting eight assists. Sophomore Lauren DeGrandmont paced the Lions in digs with nine, one short of a match-high.

Ashley Cooper and Shawonna Davis led the Tigers in kills with eight apiece, receiving sets from Davarika Johnson, who finished with a match-best 26 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. Davis proved to be the highlight of the Tiger squad, hitting .462 (8-2/13) and collecting a block solo, one of just two total team blocks for Grambling State.

The Lions jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, highlighted by two kills from Covington and one apiece from Stehling and freshman Felicia Arriola, to force a Grambling State timeout. Bergsma, who led all players with four kills on the set, contributed back-to-back kills for points 11 and 12 as LMU opened-up a 12-4 advantage. The Lions continued to maintain a comfortable lead, as a Stehling kill pushed the deficit to 20-12. The Tigers were forced to call their second timeout of the period following a Jasmine Rankins kill and a net violation to run the tally to 22-13. Bailey, serving as the Lion setter during the second half of the set, pushed the period to its final point with her only kill before Bergsma recorded a service ace to hand LMU the victory. The Lions hit a blistering .591 (14-1/22) in the set, holding Grambling State to just a .154 (10-6/26) mark.

The second set looked to be much closer than the first as the two teams battled their way to a 10-6 Lion advantage early. Bergsma posted her second service ace of the night to help LMU to a 4-1 lead, but kills by Cooper and Davis and a Lion service error cut the lead to 7-5 a few points later. Though it started close, LMU quickly caught fire after 10-6, winning the next four points on two kills apiece from freshmen Bergsma and Kenna Crouse. Covington posted one of her three kills in the set to hand LMU a 10-point lead at 18-8 before the Lions reached the 20-point plateau on a Young kill and a mishandled ball for Grambling State at 20-10. An attack error ran the set to its final point at 24-14 en route to the 25-15 Lion victory on a Rankins kill. The Lions continued to scorch offensively in the set, hitting .517 (16-1/29) to Grambling State's .129 (10-6/31).

The Lions showed no mercy early in the final set of the match, earning an 8-3 lead on a Stehling kill. The native of Austin, Texas had three kills in the final set, all of them coming over the first 10 LMU points. In an attempt to ebb the flow of the match, the Tigers elected to use their first timeout of the set at 11-5. The timeout seemed to have a short-lived effect for the Tigers as they won the next two points out of the break. Despite the minor change in momentum, LMU quickly regained control by scoring the next four points en route to a 15-7 advantage on a block and kill by Bergsma. Refusing to surrender without a fight, Grambling State took charge of the "streaky set" by posting four more unanswered points to cut the deficit to 15-11, forcing the first and only Lion timeout of the match. Covington answered the bell for LMU out of the huddle, finding the floor to end the Tiger run. The Lions and Tigers continued to trade points over the next few serves, fighting to within two points of each other at 17-15 in favor of LMU. A service error from Kayla Williams pushed the Lions to 20 points before a Bailey kill and an attack error pushed the tally to 23-17 and forced the final Grambling State timeout. Bergsma added her 11th and final kill of the night to push the match to match-point before Crouse and Covington teamed for a block to cap the victory.

The Lions return to action tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. when they battle Arkansas in the second match of the TCU Invitational.