Sept. 16, 2011

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - The LMU volleyball team (5-5) dropped a close three-set match to UC Riverside (2-9) by scores of 26-24, 25-23, 25-23 on Friday to open play at the Hilton Stockton Invitational being hosted by the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif. The Lions held leads fairly late in all three sets, but timely timeouts and Riverside runs down the stretch resulted in the loss. LMU has now seen eight of its 10 matches this year settled in three sets.

No Lion reached double-digit kills, but freshman Litara Keil managed nine kills on 21 attacks with just one error en route to hitting .381. The Long Beach, Calif. product also contributed four block assists. The Lions as a team hit .198, as Jasmine Rankins collected nine kills while hitting .088. Along with Keil, sophomore Alyse Hensley was one of the bright spots offensively for LMU, as the native of San Diego, Calif. hit .500 with seven kills on 12 attacks. Betsi Metter continued her strong sophomore campaign, collecting a team-high 12 digs to go along with four of LMU's six service aces. Junior setter Olivia Bailey dished-out 33 assists to accompany eight digs and four block assists.

Shelby LeDuff was stellar for UC Riverside in the sweep, posting a match-high 17 kills on 33 attacks for a .424 hitting percentage. LeDuff was one of two Highlanders with a double-double, teaming the 17 kills with 11 digs. Setter Katie Meyers was the other player with double-double numbers, linking 38 assists with 10 digs to guide UCR to a .255 team hitting percentage. The Highlanders notched seven service aces on Friday, including three from Kristin Van Dongen.

Despite outhitting UC Riverside, .323-.306, LMU fell in the first set by a count of 26-24. The two teams battled to 10 tie scores and five lead changes in the opening set, but eight kills on nine attacks from LeDuff guided UCR to the victory. Keil was impressive for LMU, collecting four kills on seven swings, but LMU could not overcome the Highlanders. The Lions led early, opening-up an 8-4 lead before advancing the tally to 13-7 on a kill from Keil. The Lion lead continued to 18-13, forcing the second and final Highlander timeout. The break served UCR well, as it won six of the next seven points to force a Lion timeout at 19-19. The two teams alternated blows down the stretch en route to a stalemate at 24 points apiece. An Annishia McKoy kill for Riverside resulted the final Lion timeout at 25-24 before Bianca Endersby collected her third kill of the set to hand UCR the victory.

The Lions hit just .191 in the second set as they fell 25-23 and pushed the match score to 2-0 in favor of UCR. Rankins posted five of her nine kills in the period while a trio of other Lions, including Keil, had three kills apiece. After failing to record an ace in the first, LMU's serving game picked up slightly en route to three aces. Unfortunately for the Lions, Riverside also managed three aces and received six kills from Amanda Vialpando to accompany four more from LeDuff. Once again, LMU took an early lead, playing to a 5-1 advantage on an Emily Cheek kill. Another Cheek kill pushed LMU's advantage to 13-10, but a Kenna Crouse attack error left the Lions with a slim one-point lead at 15-14. Trying to fight back to even in the match score, LMU advanced the lead to 18-15 to force a Highlander timeout. The break in the action once again helped UCR as it got back to even at 19 and claimed a 21-19 lead on four straight kills from Vialpando. The Lions fought hard to avoid surrendering another early lead in the second, but after playing even to 22, Rankins committed an attack error that was followed by a Highlander service ace to push the set to 24-22 in favor of UCR. Rankins would ensure that LMU escaped the first set-point, but LeDuff took a set from Meyers on the ensuing play and collected her final kill of the period to earn the victory.

LMU's hitting percentage continued to fall in the third set, as the Lions managed a .091 percentage en route to dropping a third consecutive hard-fought set by a count of 25-23. Four LMU players had two kills, while Metter contributed three of her four aces, but LMU could not find an answer for LeDuff and her five kills on 10 swings. The Highlanders hit just .206 in the set, but it was just enough to escape with the sweep of LMU. Although it trailed early for the first time in the match, LMU once again earned a comfortable lead toward the middle of the set. The Lions claimed a 17-11 lead en route to forcing another Riverside timeout. In line with the rest of the breaks on Friday, UCR's final timeout of the match proved effective, as the Highlanders got back to even at 18 by way of a 7-1 run. For the third straight set, the two teams found themselves locked in a seesaw battle late, as the tally ran tied at 22-22. Vialpando found the floor for UCR's 23rd point before Rankins committed an attacking error to push the match to match-point at 24-22. Just as they did in the previous set, Rankins managed a kill before LeDuff contributed one of her own for Riverside to earn the victory.

The Lions continue play at the Hilton Stockton Invitational tonight when they play host Pacific at 7 p.m.