Sept. 5, 2009

Box Score

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - LMU (4-2), which dropped the first match of the day to No. 9 UCLA earlier this morning, finished the UNLV tournament on a high note, recording a 25-18, 25-16, 25-22 sweep of host UNLV (1-4) on Saturday night.

Freshman Alaina Bergsma, who did not play in the match against the Bruins, led the way in the final match with 13 kills on 27 attacks for a .444 hitting percentage. She made just one error. Junior Becky Stehling also hit for an incredible percentage, notching nine kills on 13 attacks for a mark of .615. Freshman Kenna Crouse posted eight kills on 13 attacks with two errors for a .462 percentage. Sophomore Ariana Covington narrowly missed a double-double, teaming nine kills with 10 digs. Alesha Young, who collected 29 assists, helped LMU to a .299 team hitting percentage.

Erin Greenwood proved to be the highlight of the UNLV offensive effort, collecting 10 kills on 15 attacks for a .600 hitting percentage. Cursty Jackson had six kills, while Amanda Alles dished-out 16 assists. UNLV totaled eight blocks as a team, led by Jackson with two solos and four block assists.

LMU hit .385 in a lopsided first set that saw just two tie scores and one lead change. After UNLV earned the first two points of the match, LMU settled down and mounted an offense. Covington, Stehling and Bersma each collected three kills in the victory. The Lions reached 10 points on a ball handling error charged to UNLV, advancing the lead to 16-11 on a Megan Nash kill and a Rebel attack error. A Stehling kill gave LMU point 19 before Covington moved LMU to the 20-point plateau with a kill at 20-15. Another Rebel attack error later moved the tally to 23-16 before back-to-back kills from Bergsma handed LMU the win.

Set two looked similar to set one in that LMU held the lead virtually from the beginning. Crouse paced the way for the Lions in the set with five kills, followed by Covington and Bergsma with four and three, respectively. Covington took a set from Olivia Bailey and found the floor for point 10 early in the set, leaving LMU with a 10-5 lead. Bailey finished the set and match with four assists. The Lions maintained the five-point advantage at 15-10 en route to taking a commanding 20-12 lead on back-to-back Rebel attack errors. After UNLV elected to take a timeout on that point, LMU extended the gap to 22-12. The Lions coasted to the 25-16 victory, capped by a Crouse kill.

Despite being out-hit by UNLV, .269-.231, in set three, LMU earned a three-set sweep of the Rebels. Bergsma led all players in the set with seven kills, followed by four from Stehling. Unlike the first two sets, the final period featured 13 tie scores and six lead changes. The two teams battled to a 10-10 tie early, with both posting a few runs of unanswered points. Bergsma pushed LMU to the 15-point plateau at 15-13 with a kill, but UNLV answered back to even the tally at 15 with two unanswered points. The Lions again held a two-point lead at 20-18, but the Rebels once again fought back, evening the tally at 20. Bergsma and Young guided LMU to the victory over the next seven points, with Young collecting a kill and a service ace to Bergsma's two kills.

The Lions return to action on September 11 as they host the 2009 Crowne Plaza LAX Tournament. The match at 7 p.m. on September 11 versus Houston is LMU's home-opener.