Box Score

Junior Sarah Sponcil once again led the way as LMU (8-3) posted a 25-21, 25-21, 25-20 sweep over Southern Illinois (8-4) on Saturday morning from the Flyer Classic being hosted by Dayton over the weekend.

Sponcil hit a blistering .600 with a season-high 20 kills on 30 swings with just two errors to guide LMU to a .417 team hitting percentage. Redshirt freshman Sascha Dominique also excelled on the attack, registering seven kills on 11 errorless attacks to finish the match with a .636 hitting percentage.

Freshmen Jessie Prichard and Tess Reid once again split time setting the attack, with Prichard dishing out a career-high 26 assists and Reid adding 23 as LMU registered its best hitting percentage of the year. Not only did she help LMU to the high clip, Reid also served up two of LMU's eight aces, matching the output of Nicky Kevorken and Kekai Whitford.

Southern Illinois also managed a high hitting percentage, finishing the three sets having posted a .365 clip as a team. Meg Viggars led the way for the Salukis, posting nine kills on 16 attacks with just one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Viggars also added 17 assists to narrowly miss a double-double.

After playing even to 9-9, LMU won four straight points, including two on kills from Sponcil and one on an ace from Whitford, to take a 13-9 lead. The Lions maintained control through the middle of the period, reaching the 20-point plateau at 20-16 on a kill from Savannah Slattery. Southern Illinois proved to have one last burst of momentum left, capturing four of the next five points to cut the deficit to one at 21-20. Fortunately, LMU regained command of the first, feeding Kevorken for a kill before an SIU attack error allowed the Lions to move to 23-20. After Andrea Estrada stopped the short run with a kill for the Salukis, Erin Williams and Sponcil connected for their final kills of the set, handing LMU the 1-0 match lead. Sponcil finished the first with four kills, joined by Jamie Lea with four of her own, as LMU hit .448 in the opener.

Sponcil had a huge second set, collecting six kills on nine swings with just one error, helping LMU to a 25-21 victory. The native of Phoenix, Ariz. also added her lone ace of the morning. After being forced into an early timeout trailing 3-2, LMU took control of the second, jumping out to a 15-8 lead on a Sponcil kill, forcing the first SIU timeout. The Lions continued to run away down the stretch, exhausting the final Saluki timeout at 23-17 en route to a 25-21 victory to move to 2-0 in the match score.

LMU saved its best hitting percentage for last, posting a .452 clip in a come-from-behind effort. Riding Sponcil to the finish, the junior outside hitter collected 10 kill on 16 attacks in the finale. The Lions trailed 13-11 following a Kolby Meeks kill, but eventually drew back even and played point-for-point to 15-15. From there, LMU won two straight points and did not surrender the lead the rest of the way, forcing the final Southern Illinois timeout at 21-18 following back-to-back kills from Sponcil. The Lions continued to feed Sponcil out of the break, as she connected for two more to cap a string of four straight kills. A Reid ace pushed LMU to match point at 24-18 before Williams found the floor a few points later to hand LMU the sweep.

The Lions will finish play at the Flyer Classic this afternoon when it plays Youngstown State in a neutral match at 1 p.m. PT.