Sept. 22, 2011

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - LMU (7-6, 1-0) defeated Gonzaga (6-6, 0-1) in a tight four-set match on Thursday to open West Coast Conference play. The Lions earned a 28-26, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24 victory in 2:02. The match looked destined for five set before LMU went on an 8-0 run in the fourth set to earn the victory.

The Lions hit just .167 over the course of the match, but held Gonzaga to a measly .099 hitting percentage on the other side of the net. Five Lion players finished with double-digit kills, including sophomore Alyse Hensley with a match-high 15 kills on 38 swings. Senior Emily Cheek added 12 more, while Kenna Crouse, Litara Keil and Jasmine Rankins each chipped-in 10. Rankins was the lone Lion with a double-double, teaming the 10 kills with 12 digs. Junior setter Olivia Bailey dished-out 42 assists while sophomore Betsi Metter collected a match-best and career-high 32 digs to increase her digs per set average to 4.67. Keil led the Lions on the block, posting two block solos and five block assists.

Kylie Edinger had 12 kills for Gonzaga while Meredith Crenshaw contributed 10 kills to lead the Bulldogs on the attack. Denise Van de Mortel set the offense, dishing-out 34 assists to go along with 10 digs for a double-double. Just as the Lions were, Gonzaga was active on the block on Thursday, totaling 19 team blocks, including a block solo and nine block assists from Crenshaw. Edinger had two block solos and seven block assists, while Kaprina Goodwin also had nine block assists in the middle.

LMU won a close first set by a count of 28-26. Cheek notched five kills on nine swings, while Metter posted nine digs in the first set alone, to lead LMU to the narrow victory. The two teams played to six tie scores and five lead changes in the set, as Gonzaga jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. LMU managed to claw back to even at 10 on back-to-back kills from Cheek and Rankins. Gonzaga pushed forward from there, earning a three-point lead at 16-13 on a Van de Mortel kill. The Bulldog advantage continued to 23-20 to force a Lion timeout before Gonzaga took a set-point advantage at 24-22. Refusing to surrender the period, LMU spoiled a pair of set-point chances as part of a three-point swing that saw LMU take a set-point lead at 25-24. The two teams traded blows to 26 before back-to-back Bulldog attack errors handed LMU the set.

Despite scoring each of the first eight points of the second set, LMU fell in the period by a count of 25-21. The Lions started hot, but hit just .047 over the course of the entire period en route to the loss. A Cheek kill put LMU on top 10-3, but the lead shrunk to just four at 15-11. Goodwin and Crenshaw, who finished with five kills in the set, teamed for back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to just two at 17-15 to force a Lion timeout before the Bulldogs scratched all the way even at 19-19 on a Van de Mortel kill. Carrying momentum from the comeback, Gonzaga accelerated from there and took a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. The Bulldogs won the set on a kill from Laura Day, the sister of former Lion Emily Day.

In what proved to be the most lopsided set of the match, LMU held Gonzaga to a .030 hitting percentage in the third en route to taking the period by a count of 25-18. Crouse had five kills, while Hensley had four, to lead LMU to a .206 hitting percentage. LMU and Gonzaga played even to 10 points before the Lions won five of the next six points to take a 15-11 lead and force a Gonzaga timeout. The lead stretched to 18-12 from there as LMU eventually claimed a 22-17 lead on a Crenshaw attacking error. After a Lion service error pushed the tally to 22-18, LMU won the final three points of the period, highlighted by kills from Crouse and Hensley.

After LMU took the third set, it was Gonzaga that looked poised to win the fourth. The Bulldogs held an early 10-5 advantage before advancing the lead to 20-14. With the match seemingly headed to five sets with Gonzaga holding a set-point lead at 24-18, LMU mounted a comeback. Back-to-back attack errors by the Zags put their lead at just three at 24-21 and forced a timeout. Another set of attack errors by Gonzaga allowed LMU to push within one at 24-23 before Gonzaga called its final timeout. The break did little to slow LMU's roll, as Cheek emerged from the huddle to knot the tally at 24. The Lions got more help from Gonzaga from there, as the Bulldogs committed two more attack errors to hand LMU the victory. In all, LMU won the final eight points of the match to top the Bulldogs, including six of the eight points on Gonzaga attacking errors.

The Lions continue the opening weekend of WCC play on Saturday when they play Portland at 1 p.m.