Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The LMU women's volleyball team lost to No. 20 UC Irvine, 26-28, 25-18, 25-14, 25-21, in four sets in the Crowne Plaza LAX Volleyball Tournament Championship held at Gersten Pavilion Saturday night. The Lions (6-3) set the tone early, taking the first set from the Anteaters (9-1), but UCI rolled to three straight set wins to take the match.

LMU was led by redshirt freshman Alaina Bergsma with 16 kills in the match, while sophomore Ariana Covington added 13 kills for the Lions. Sophomore Alesha Young recorded a double-double for LMU with 28 assists and 15 digs. Bergsma and redshirt junior Becky Stehling were named first team All-Tournament following the match.

Taryn Robertson led UCI with 44 assists, while also chipping in six kills. Juliane Piggott and Kari Pestolesi, the tournament MVP, led the Anteaters with 18 and 17 kills, respectively. UCI held a 67-58 advantage in digs in the match, with Kristin Winkler recording15 digs and Pestolesi adding 14.

The Lions came out quick to start the match, taking set one from the Anteaters, 28-26. LMU took an early 2-0 lead in the first set and maintained that lead despite runs by UCI. The two teams battled back and forth, with 13 ties during the close set. The Anteaters took their first lead of the game at 19-18, but LMU was able to reclaim a 22-20 lead off of an ace serve by Young. Bergsma and Covington came up with big hits for the Lions late in set one, leading to four set points. Pestolesi kept the Anteaters in the game with two kills to break set points for LMU, but the Lions finally broke away with clutch kills by Covington and Bergsma.

Bergsma led the Lions with five kills in the first set, while Covington and Stehling had four kills apiece for LMU. The Lions had a .286 hitting percentage in the first set to go along with 18 digs.

UCI stormed into game two, taking a commanding 7-0 lead over the Lions behind Pestolesi's serving. The Anteaters led by as much as 10 points in the second set, behind the strong play of Pestolesi. Bergsma had six kills for the Lions in the second set, but UCI pulled out the 25-18 win to tie the match.

LMU again dug itself in a hole to start the third set, allowing the Anteaters to take a 4-0 lead. They fought back to pull within four points on several occasions, but UCI never relinquished the lead. Covington led the Lions in the third set with four kills, but the team only managed a .062 hitting percentage. The Anteaters went on a 6-0 run to close out the third set 25-14 and take a 2-1 match lead.

The Lions came out with more momentum to start the fourth set and kept it close behind the strong hitting of Bergsma who had four kills on 14 total attacks. LMU pulled within two points to bring the score to 10-8 before UCI went on a run to take a 15-10 lead. Service errors by the Anteaters kept the Lions in the game as they pulled to within three points late in the set, but UCI came away with the 25-21 win in the match-deciding set.

LMU went 2-1 in the Crowne Plaza LAX Tournament, beating Houston and Boise State before falling to UC Irvine. The Lions will return to the court on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. when they host Cal State Northridge at Gersten Pavilion.