Oct. 20, 2012

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - The LMU volleyball team (13-9, 4-5 WCC) continued to play well on the road on Saturday afternoon, knocking-off Portland (6-17, 0-9 WCC) in three sets to improve to 5-1 on the road this year. The Lions handily defeated the Pilots by scores of 25-18, 25-16, 25-14.

Sophomore Litara Keil and junior Kathleen Luft once again led the way for the Lions. Keil finished the match with 12 kills on 21 swings with only two errors for a .476 hitting percentage. The native of Long Beach, Calif. also contributed three of LMU's eight aces. Luft contributed a match-best 14 kills on 31 attacks for a .323 percentage, teaming the mark with six digs, an ace and a block solo. Kenna Crouse, who had eight kills on Thursday at Gonzaga, finished Saturday's match with six more on eight swings for an impressive .750 hitting clip. The Lions hit .374 over the course of the match as Hannah Tedrow dished-out 37 assists. Averaging better than four digs a set, junior Betsi Metter managed 14 digs to lead all players in that category.

Portland hit just .170 on Saturday, receiving eight kills from Bea Loper and six apiece from Kate Bostwick and Ariel Usher.

The Lions came out swinging in the first set, hitting .361 behind four kills apiece from Luft and Felicia Arriola. Luft also served-up an ace as LMU cruised to a 25-18 victory. Portland managed just a .182 hitting clip as Bostwick collected four kills on five swings. LMU jumped out to an early 11-5 lead on a Caitlin DeWitt kill before eventually earning a 15-9 lead on a kill from Keil. Portland was forced to call a timeout at 21-15 when Arriola posted a kill, but the break did little to slow momentum as LMU took the period on back-to-back Portland errors.

Keil and Luft took the Lions on their shoulders in the second, notching six kills apiece. Keil also managed all three of her aces in the second as LMU earned a 25-16 victory. Crouse led the Lions on the block, posting two block assists. After playing even to three, LMU went on a 12-1 run to blow the set open at 15-4. The Lions never looked back from there, eventually taking the set on a Luft kill.

Sensing a sweep, LMU's offense proved relentless in the third, hitting .519 behind four kills on five swings from Luft. Teamed with the offensive outburst, three more Lion aces proved too much for Portland as LMU won a lopsided period at 25-14. The Lions scored each of the last four points of the match, with the final three coming by way of Pilot attack errors.

LMU will stay on the road for its next match, traveling to Pepperdine on Thursday for a PCH Cup match at 7 p.m.