Box Score

Playing on the road at #14 Oregon (3-1) on Friday night, LMU volleyball (2-3) took the Ducks the distance, but eventually dropped a five-set decision by scores of 19-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-19, 15-8. For LMU, the five-set match was the first of the year after going 0-6 in such matches a season ago.

Junior Sara Kovac led all players with 17 kills on 33 swings for a .333 hitting percentage, while Megan Rice picked up 13 kills with three digs and three blocks, helping LMU to 10 blocks as a team. Sophomore setters Jessie Prichard and Tess Reid each dished out 28 assists as the Lions hit .192 as a team in the setback.

LMU's serving game continued to be a strong point for the Lions, as LMU served up seven aces, including two apiece from Savannah Slattery and Alexis Morrow. In addition to the two aces, Morrow also contributed four blocks, falling one short of Emma Johnson for the team lead.

Lindsey Vander Weide paced the attack for Oregon, finishing with 15 kills, 18 digs and three blocks to claim a double-double. The Ducks hit .292 over the course of the match, with Maggie Scott and August Raskie dishing out 27 and 25 assists, respectively. Perhaps the biggest difference in the match came at the net, with Oregon managing 16 team blocks, including eight blocks each from Ronika Stone and Sumeet Gill.

It was all LMU in the first, as the Lions jumped out to an early 10-5 lead to force an Oregon timeout. A pair of Slattery aces allowed LMU to advance the lead to 16-11, pushing the Ducks to call their final timeout of the period. A kill from Morrow handed LMU the set point chance at 24-19 before Lindsey Vander Weide erred on a swing to hand the Lions the opener.

Oregon seemingly had the second set in hand at 24-20, but kills from Kovac, Johnson and back-to-back aces from Morrow erased four set points chances and drew LMU back even at 24-24. After trading a pair of points, Vander Weide connected for her sixth kill of the set, setting the table for a Taylor Agost kill to even the match score at one set apiece.

The third set proved to be a back-and-forth affair, as the two teams played to 15 tie scores and six lead changes. The Lions actually led 23-21 and forced an Oregon timeout, but the Ducks emerged from the huddle and eventually got back even at 23-23 following a block from Agost and Gill. Still even at 24-24, LMU's Sierra Bartley and Johnson teamed to stuff Vander Weide to hand LMU set point at 25-24. Bartley finished off the period one play later, finding the floor for the second time in the set as LMU took the 2-1 lead in the match score.

Kovac did her best to try to seal the upset victory in the fourth, notching five of her 17 match kills in the period, but LMU could not finish off the Ducks despite claiming a 16-13 lead in the middle of the stanza. Following an Oregon timeout, the Ducks rattled off four straight points, claiming a 17-16 lead and sending the set down the stretch. Back even at 18-18, the Ducks went on one final run, scoring six unanswered points, including a pair on blocks from Stone, to earn set point at 24-18. While LMU managed to erase the first opportunity, Slattery erred on the ensuing serve, pushing the match to a fifth and decisive set.

Although LMU controlled the early momentum in the race to 15, jumping out to an early 5-2 lead to force an Oregon timeout, Oregon utilized a pair of big runs en route to capturing the victory. It was a 6-0 run that turned that 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 lead, and the Ducks managed to turn a one-point advantage at 9-8 into a five-set victory as they closed the match on another 6-0 run, fittingly capped by a block from Agost and Gill.

LMU will conclude play at the Oregon Classic on Saturday at 2 p.m. when it meets UTRGV.