Sept. 17, 2010

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah - LMU (4-6) went a full five sets with host Utah State (11-0) on Friday morning before dropping the match, 25-16, 18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 16-14, at the Utah State Invitational. The Lions hit .243 and received double-digit kills from three players, but also served-up 16 service errors in the loss.

Junior Jasmine Rankins led the Lions with 18 kills, hitting .260 (18-5/50) over the course of the five sets. Freshman Alyse Hensley connected at a .312 pace, notching 13 kills with three errors on 32 swings. Senior Becky Stehling was the final Lion with double-digit kills, managing 11 on 24 attacks for a .292 hitting percentage. Setter Olivia Bailey finished just two assists shy of a career high, posting 56 to guide LMU to the .260 hitting percentage. Despite the 16 service errors, LMU, which entered the week ranked first in the WCC in service aces, did serve-up 10 aces, including a match-high tying and career-high tying three from Rankins. Freshman Betsi Metter, who entered the week ranked first in the WCC in aces, managed two more on Friday.

Liz McArthur led all players with 22 kills for Utah State, hitting .255 on 51 attacks. Josselyn White managed a double-double on Friday morning, teaming 12 kills with 12 digs. Setter Chelsea Fowles, who had three aces, also posted a double-double, combining 44 assists with 12 digs of her own. Utah State hit a combined .323 over the course of the match.

Utah State came out hot in the first set, hitting a match-best .391 in the first period while holding LMU to a .138 mark on the other side of the net. Four McArthur kills, and service aces from Fowles and Kassi Hargrove, led the Aggies to the victory. LMU never led in the first period, but did manage to stay within two points until 15-13. Utah State took over from there, posting 10 of the next 13 points overall.

The Lions answered right back in the second set, as they seemed to be firing on all cylinders in the period. Rankins notched a set-best six kills and two aces as the Lions hit .400 and served-up five aces. Four more kills from McArthur kept Utah State close, but the efficient Lion offense proved too much as the match was tied at one set apiece.

McArthur and Rankins squared-off in the third set, as McArthur notched five kills on nine attacks to Rankins' four on 13 swings. Both teams posted a service ace, but LMU also served-up three errors in the period. After notching four and a half blocks in the first set, Utah State returned to the block in the third, collecting four more, highlighted by solos from Shantell Durrant and White. LMU trailed nearly the entire way en route to dropping the period, 25-19.

Both teams had a bit of trouble getting the offense going in the fourth set, as Utah State out-hit LMU, .194-.190. Fortunately for the Lions, LMU managed to best the Aggies in the period, benefitting from a pair of service aces from Felicia Arriola and Paige Craine, and three kills apiece from Stehling, Rankins and Hensley. The two teams played to two lead changes and seven tie scores, including the last at 16-16. The Lions managed to score the next three points en route to taking the set and forcing a fifth and decisive period.

The race to 15 points proved exciting, as the two teams saw four lead changes and eight tie scores. The Lions led early, but found themselves knotted at eight points as Utah State went on a bit of a run, opening-up a 12-9 advantage. LMU scraped back to within one point at 13-12 before fighting-off a pair of match-points at 14-12 and 14-13 to get back to even on back-to-back kills from senior Megan Nash. Unfortunately for the Lions, they would not get a chance to play for victory, as White found the floor for Utah State to precede a ball-handling error charged to Bailey to end the match.

The Lions return to action today at 3:30 p.m. when they meet UC Riverside on neutral ground.