Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Santa Clara (15-6, 5-3 WCC) upended #24 LMU (17-3, 5-3 WCC) in five sets on Saturday to hand the Lions their first home loss of the year. The Broncos defeated the Lions by scores of 25-21, 19-25, 9-25, 25-18, 16-14.

Sabrina Clayton and Nikki Hess each totaled 19 kills in the victory, with Hess managing her 19 on 43 swings for a .372 hitting percentage. The Broncos, who hit .283 as a team, also collected 8.5 blocks behind six block assists from Natasha Calkins.

Senior Litara Keil posted 17 kills for LMU in the loss, while freshman Sarah Sponcil pitched in 16, including five in the final set. Junior Hannah Tedrow posted her team-best eighth double-double of the year, teaming 57 assists with 11 digs. Rachelle Suaava had an impressive match in the setback, combining 11 kills (.476 hitting) with six block assists. The Lions finished the match hitting .345 with eight total blocks.

While the match ended up being a thrilling five-setter, the Lions only have to look at the first to see a big missed opportunity. LMU jumped out to an early 12-6 lead, forcing a Santa Clara timeout, but the Lions saw that early lead turn into a 14-13 deficit as the Broncos went on an 8-1 run. The two teams traded blows to even at 17, but Santa Clara won the next two points, including one on one of Taylor Milton's six kills in the set, to take it lead it would not relinquish. An excellent serving team, Santa Clara eventually won the opener on an ace from Gigi Cresto. The ace was the first of five for the visitors on the day.

LMU fell behind early in the second, but rebounded nicely to even the match score by way of a 25-19 victory. Senior Caitlin DeWitt collected eight of her 12 match kills in the second, doing so on just 13 swings. The Lions hit .533 in the stanza. Trailing 6-2 early, LMU scored seven of the next eight points to surpass the Broncos at 9-7. The lead stretched to four at 17-13 when DeWitt connected for a kill, before back-to-back kills from Keil extended the advantage to five at 21-16. The Lions went on to take the set on a kill from Suaava.

It was all LMU in the third, as the Lions hit .640 en route to winning the third by a score of 25-9. Unfortunately for LMU, DeWitt would also get tangled up under the net with a Bronco player on the block during the set, forcing the Casper, Wyo. native to miss the rest of the match. Suaava finished the third with six of her 11 kills on just seven attacks, while the Lions held SCU to just .040 hitting. LMU owned a lopsided 21-4 lead after three consecutive Bronco attack errors, and eventually won the set on a kill from Keil.

While the third set certainly favored the Lions, they led just 2-1 in the match score after letting the lead get away in the first. Without DeWitt and facing a fourth set, LMU hit just .114 en route to falling 25-18. Keil did her best to try to finish the match in four, posting six kills, but Santa Clara managed three blocks and two aces to accompany five kills from Hess to claim victory and force a fifth set.

The Lions had a match-point chance at 14-13 in the fifth after Tedrow dumped a ball for her fourth kill of the day, but Clayton responded with one of her four fifth-set kills to even the tally at 14. An attack error from Amber Mirabello followed to hand a match-point opportunity to Santa Clara, as the Broncos set Hess for the final time where she hit a cross-court attack that was touched by Ashley Maxfeldt and sailed into the crowd for the match-winner.

LMU will return to action on Thursday when it travels to #9 BYU for a match at 6 p.m.