Box Score

Sophomore Sarah Sponcil hit .432 with 17 kills on 37 attacks with just one error to guide the Lions (18-7, 9-4 WCC) to a sweep of Portland (13-11, 3-9 WCC) by scores of 25-15, 30-28, 25-19 in West Coast Conference play on Thursday night from Gersten Pavilion. The Lions have now won nine of their last 10 matches overall.

Sponcil, the reigning WCC Player of the Week, posted a double-double of the match-high 17 kills and 16 digs, teaming those marks with an ace and four assists. Senior Hannah Tedrow also posted a double-double, combining 45 assists with 14 digs. Rachelle Suaava added 13 kills, while Jamie Lea reached double-digit kills once again with 10. Senior Amber Mirabello made the most of her 15 attacks, posting nine kills and committing just three errors, to help guide LMU to a .241 hitting percentage in the match.

The LMU defense proved to be a strong point on Thursday, as the Lions collected 80 total digs and eight blocks. Emily Liger had 15 of Portland's 28 kills, while Hannah Troutman and Sarah Savoca each had six.

Despite hitting just .186 in the first, LMU ran away with the opener, 25-15. LMU jumped out to an early 9-3 lead before moving the tally to 13-4 on a kill from Jennifer Casillas. One of three Sponcil kills in the first pushed the lead to 10 at 18-8 and forced Portland's final timeout. The Pilots cut the deficit to six at 20-14 on a block from Brittney Markwith and Savoca, but LMU won three straight and eventually took the first on kills from Sara Kovac and Sponcil.

The Lions and Pilots played an epic second set, with LMU erasing a handful of set-point chances to eventually steal a 2-0 match lead. Sponcil had nine kills and an ace for LMU, and Liger connected for six kills of her own to keep the Pilots in the period. A kill from Troutman handed Portland its first set-point chance at 24-22, but back-to-back kills from Sponcil erased the two chances and evened the tally at 24-24. Liger and Sponcil traded blows over the next two points, leaving the two teams knotted at 25. After a Lion attack error that once again put their backs to the wall, Suaava found the floor to push forward at 26-26. The native of Waipahu, Hawaii then dropped back to serve and recorded an ace, handing LMU its first set-point chance of the second, but she promptly erred on the ensuing serve to run the tally even at 27. Lea and Troutman followed with kills to make it 28-28, but LMU got a kill from Lea in front of an ace off the top of the tape from Kekai Whitford to finally put the set away. LMU totaled three of its five matches aces in the second.

It was another close set in the third, but LMU hit .349 behind nine kills from Suaava and five more from Sponcil en route to the sweep. The Pilots played even with LMU to 18-18 in the finale, but a 4-0 run, highlighted by a block from Suaava and Casillas, handed LMU the late 22-18 advantage. Suaava won point 23 with her final kill of the match, kick-starting a three-point run to the finish for LMU that was fittingly capped by Sponcil's last kill of the night.

LMU will look to stay hot on Saturday when it welcomes Gonzaga to Gersten Pavilion at Noon.