Nov. 4, 2010

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The LMU volleyball team (15-10) had a scare on Thursday night, dropping each of the first two sets against Cal State Bakersfield (0-25), before winning the final three to take the match, 21-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-7. The Roadrunners, who are winless this year, won the first two sets of a match for the first time this season before the Lions regained composure and took the victory. The Lions have now won five straight home matches.

Junior Jasmine Rankins led all players with 18 kills on 49 attacks for a .204 hitting percentage. The native of Oceanside, Calif. teamed that mark with a team-best 14 digs and three block solos for a double-double. Sophomore setter Olivia Bailey also had a double-double, combining a match-best 52 assists with 12 digs. The Lions hit .244 over the course of the five sets, improving to 4-2 in five-set matches this year. Normally a superb team from the service area, LMU managed just three aces, including all three coming in the third set or later. The Lion middle-blocking corps of senior Megan Nash and Kenna Crouse was stellar on Thursday, finishing with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Nash hit .423 while Crouse hit .409, with Nash also collecting seven digs, a block solo and three block assists.

Bakersfield also managed a pair of players with double-doubles, as Lindy DeGeare teamed a team-best 14 kills with 12 digs. She was joined by setter Danielle Gong with 44 assists and a match-best 18 digs. Gong was also extremely effective from the service area, serving-up three of CSUB's six match aces.

Cal State Bakersfield's winless record did not show in the first set as the Lions burned through their two timeouts by 14-9 in the opener after failing to get things going early in the match. The Lions trailed virtually the entire way in the first as the Roadrunners hit .324 as a team, led by four kills apiece from Alysia Baker and Haleigh Haratyk. Rankins opened the match with seven kills on 12 attacks for a .500 percentage, but the Lions hit just .250 as a team and served-up four service errors with no aces while failing to overcome the hot start from Bakersfield en route to dropping the set, 25-21.

The second set started in much the same manner as the first ended, as the Lions trailed 3-0 and then 5-1 early. The Lions managed to get back to even at five points by winning each of the next four points, but Bakersfield, which hit .323 to LMU's .091, once again put some distance between the two teams, forcing timeouts at 12-8 and two points later at 14-8. The lead advanced to 20-15 and then 23-16 as the Lions began to see the second set slip away. A service error handed the Roadrunners their 24th point before Tika Smith found the floor for her only kill of the set to give CSUB a 2-0 lead in the match score, the first time this season that the Roadrunners had won the first two sets of a match. Baker and DeGeare led the way in the set for the Roadrunners with four kills apiece, including four on just five swings for Baker.

LMU managed to record a victory in set three, benefitting from six kills from Nash. LMU hit .303 and held CSUB to a .182 mark on the other side of the net. After playing even to 11 in the third set, LMU recorded the next three straight points to earn a 14-11 advantage and force a Roadrunner timeout. That lead stretched to 16-11 out of the break, but CSUB once again mounted a comeback, cutting the deficit to 16-13 to force the first timeout of the period from LMU. Fortunately for the Lions, the timeout seemed to end the Roadrunner run, as LMU won the next three straight to stretch the lead to 19-13 and force the second and final timeout from CSUB. Although the Roadrunners continued to push in the set, LMU managed to reach set point at 24-18 on a Rankins kill, her second of the set. Nash put the set away two points later, connecting on a kill from Bailey.

The Roadrunners once again came out hot in the fourth set, earning an early 5-2 cushion, but it was LMU that took the set by a count of 25-20 to force a fifth set. LMU not only managed to weather the early storm, but also managed to score four straight points en route to a 6-5 lead. After CSUB won the very next point to knot the tally, Haratyk served-up a pair of aces to push the Roadrunners back ahead. That lead continued to 11-9, resulting in the first LMU timeout of the set, as the Lions tried to stop momentum and force a fifth set. The break served its purpose as the Lions roared back in the seesaw set to take a 16-14 lead, at which point Bakersfield elected to use its first timeout. The Lions continued to push out of the break, advancing the lead to 22-16 on back-to-back kills from Bailey. LMU managed to reach set point at 24-19 on a Rankins kill before she posted another off the block two points later to force a fifth and decisive set. Rankins finished the set with five kills on 14 swings, while Alyse Hensley also contributed five in the tight fourth . The Lions hit .267 over the course of the period while holding CSUB to a .081 mark. Smith did her best to try to end the match at four sets, recording four kills on nine swings for Bakersfield, but it was not enough.

After coming all the way back to even the match score at 2-2, LMU carried momentum into the race to 15 points, jumping out to an early 5-1 cushion, highlighted by a block from Nash and Hensley at 4-1. The Lions were first to eight points at 8-3 on an attack error from Baker, and also reached 10 points at 10-4 on an ace from Diana Hiromoto, forcing a CSUB timeout. A Crouse kill pushed the Lions to a 12-6 advantage before a pair of Roadrunner attack errors gave LMU the match-point lead at 14-6. The Lions put the match away two points later when Rankins took a set from Bailey and found the floor for her match-best 18th and final kill of the night.

The Lions return to West Coast Conference action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Pepperdine for a crucial conference match between the third and fourth-place teams in the standings.