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Playing in arguably the most exciting match of the 2016 season on Senior Night Tuesday, LMU volleyball (19-11, 10-8 WCC) suffered a familiar fate, dropping a heartbreaking five-set match to #10 BYU (27-3, 16-2 WCC) by scores of 16-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-13 from Gersten Pavilion.

With the loss, LMU will finish the 2016 season 0-6 in five-set matches, including having dropped three after taking the first two sets â€" both against top-10 opponents. The five-set loss is also the second of the year at the hands of the Cougars, and moves LMU to 1-13 all-time against BYU. Of those 14 matches, eight have gone five sets.

The Lions played nearly flawless volleyball over the first two sets, hitting .462 in the first and .562 in the second while amassing 7.5 blocks in the two combined, but the Cougars would ultimately wear down the Lions en route to earning sole possession of the 2016 WCC Championship. BYU never trailed in the third set before forcing a fifth and decisive frame by way of a tight fourth-set victory that featured seven tie scores and five lead changes.

Knotted at two sets apiece, LMU and BYU played an epic fifth set that saw 10 tie scores and three lead changes over the race to 15. A Boswell kill allowed BYU to move to a 12-10 lead late, but the Lions clawed back even by winning the next two points, including the latter tally on an Erin Williams kill to force a Cougar timeout. A service error and another Williams kill once again pushed the teams even, this time at 13, but Miller put away the next two balls for the Cougars, sealing the come-from-behind five-set victory to clinch the WCC crown.

Sarah Sponcil had an incredible match for LMU, teaming 18 kills with 17 digs and three blocks to finish with her 16th double-double of the season. Seniors Jamie Lea and Nicky Kevorken also went out strong, with Lea totaling 17 kills and nine digs to accompany six blocks. Kevorken had five kills on nine attacks with two aces, a block solo and three block assists in her final collegiate match.

Freshman Savannah Slattery and Williams, who earned on a spot on the WCC All-Academic team earlier Tuesday, each finished with double-digit kills, as Slattery had 15 to Williams' 10. Williams not only put up big numbers on the attack, she also contributed seven blocks to help LMU to 12.5 team blocks.

BYU's McKenna Miller led all players with 21 kills on 41 swings to finish with a .317 hitting percentage, but Amy Boswell and Whitney Howard each had all-around matches for the Cougars. Boswell posted 15 kills with an ace and one block while Howard notched nine kills and seven block assists. BYU finished the match with eight total team blocks.