Nov. 11, 2010

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The LMU volleyball team (15-12, 6-5 WCC) dropped its fourth consecutive road match on Thursday, this time falling to host Gonzaga (3-25, 1-11) in four sets, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 28-26. The match saw 18 tie scores and 11 lead changes, including 10 ties and seven lead changes in the fourth and decisive set alone.

Junior Jasmine Rankins posted a match-best 23 kills for the Lions, while setter Olivia Bailey dished out 48 assists and notched 18 digs for a double-double. The Lions, who hit just .164 over the four sets, served up six aces, including two apiece from Paige Craine and Bailey. Junior Lauren DeGrandmont had a team-best 20 digs for the Lions in the loss.

Terran Poindexter and Schylur Edelman led the Bulldogs to victory, connecting for 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Poindexter hit .382 while Edelman hit .357, as Gonzaga hit .199 on the match. Denise Van de Mortel passed-out 48 assists with six kills in her own right to help Gonzaga to its first conference victory of the year. Allyson Powell led all players on Thursday night on defense, posting 25 digs. The Bulldogs matched the Lions from the service area, posting six aces, but also managed 14 team blocks to LMU's six. Poindexter was outstanding on the block, posting three block solos and one block assist.

Rankins and the Lions took the first set of the match by a count of 25-22, highlighted by seven kills from Rankins. Craine served-up her two aces in the first period alone, while LMU held Gonzaga to a .111 mark offensively. LMU never trailed in the period, jumping out to an early 10-3 cushion early. The Lions reached 15 points on a Bulldog service error before advancing the lead to 20-9 on a Gonzaga attack error. Though the Bulldogs would gain ground down the stretch, LMU received a pair of kills from Rankins to earn points 24 and 25 en route to victory.

Both teams picked up the offensive efficiency in the second, as the Bulldogs hit .283 to LMU's .262 en route to a second-set victory. Edelman had six kills on 11 swings to lead Gonzaga, aided by five kills from Kylie Edinger. Freshman Alyse Hensley contributed eight kills on just 12 attacks for the Lions, but LMU could not record the win. The two teams played to six tie scores and three lead changes, but it was Gonzaga that earned a 25-23 victory on a Poindexter kill.

Gonzaga found itself with another 25-23 victory in the third set, benefitting from four kills apiece from Poindexter, Edelman and Meredith Crenshaw. The Bulldogs hit just .184, but held LMU to a .091 mark on the other side of the net. LMU led early, earning a 4-0 lead, but that cushion was gone by the time the teams reached a stalemate at 15-15. Gonzaga scored the next three points in the set, never trailing the rest of the way. LMU cut the deficit back to one point at 22-21 on a Bailey service ace before drawing back to even at 23 on a Megan Nash kill, forcing a Gonzaga timeout. Unfortunately for the Lions, the break served its purpose. The Bulldogs scored the next two points out of the huddle, including a kill by Edelman and a Betsi Metter attack error.

The two teams found themselves locked in a heated seesaw battle in the fourth set, playing to 10 tie scores and seven lead changes. Rankins posted eight kills on 25 swings in the fourth, but LMU hit just .146 as a team. Gonzaga, which hit .213, was led by a balanced attack of five kills from Poindexter, and three apiece from Van de Mortel, Edelman and Crenshaw. Close throughout, the teams played even at every point from 17 to 20. Back even at 22, Gonzaga elected to use a timeout. The two teams continued to trade blows past the mandated 25 points before a Rankins attack error and a kill from Edelman at 27-26 gave Gonzaga its 28th and match-winning point.

The Lions complete the road schedule on Saturday when they visit Portland for a match at 1 p.m.