Box Score

Playing in the first match of the Oregon Classic hosted by #14 Oregon on Friday morning, LMU volleyball (2-2) outlasted Northern Illinois (0-5) en route to capturing a 27-29, 28-26, 25-17, 25-21 four-set victory.

Sophomore Savannah Slattery led all players with 15 kills on 47 swings, but it was sophomore Emma Johnson who gathered the eyes in the box score, finishing with a career-best 12 kills on 19 errorless attacks to post a .632 hitting percentage. The native of Moraga, Calif. also pitched in a block solo and three block assists to help LMU to 11 team blocks. Alexis Morrow paced the squad in that category, collecting seven block assists.

LMU's serving game also proved effective, as senior Kristen Castellanos served up three of LMU's six aces in the four-set win. In addition to Slattery and Johnson, two other Lions finished with double-digit kills, including Sara Kovac and Sierra Bartley with 14 apiece. LMU, which hit .216 as a team, saw Jessie Prichard and Tess Reid contribute 27 and 25 assists, respectively.

Prichard, Slattery and Reid all finished with double-doubles, as Prichard teamed her 27 assists with 21 digs â€" second only to Castellanos' 27 to lead LMU. Reid paired her 25 assists with 13 digs for her first double-double of the year, while Slattery finished with 11 digs to accompany her 15 kills.

The Lions trailed in the first set early, falling behind 10-5 before electing to use a timeout. Although LMU clawed back to even at 12, a late NIU run seemingly put the Lions down in the first as the Huskies led 23-19 following a Kaylee Martin that also forced the final Lion timeout. Refusing to surrender, LMU inched back to even at 24 before beginning a see-saw battle that ultimately resulted in NIU reaching set point at 28-27 on a block from Meg Wolowicz. The block was one of 14 in the match for NIU, as Wolowicz finished with a solo and five block assists. Needing one more point to take the first, the Huskies once again stuffed LMU, this time with Maddy Katchen recording the block to put LMU in the early match hole.

It was another close set in the second, but this time LMU came out the victor to even the tally at one set apiece. Kovac paced the attack with seven of her 14 match kills in the second, as LMU hit .267. After earning an early advantage, LMU found itself trailing toward the middle of the set. After electing to use a timeout while trailing 15-11, LMU made a run that would draw the teams back even at 20-20 on back-to-back Lion blocks from Bartley and Morrow. For the second straight set, NIU would reach set point first, as a block gave the Huskies the 24-22 advantage. Just as they did in the first, LMU rallied down the stretch, evening the tally at 24 before eventually stealing the set on the heels of a Johnson kill and a NIU attack error.

Feeding off the momentum of the second set, LMU took command of the match in the third, never trailing in the period en route to taking the 2-1 lead in the match score. The Lions hit .483 in the third set, aided by four kills each from Slattery and Bartley. LMU also served up three aces in the stanza, including two from Castellanos.

The match looked primed for five sets as NIU came out swinging in the fourth, leading 8-2 out of the gates. Playing it one point at a time and chipping away at the deficit, LMU eventually crawled back even at 18-18 following an NIU attack error. With a new match at hand, the two teams traded blows to 20, but LMU won five of the final six points down the stretch, including the match winner on a kill from Johnson, to capture victory and run its record back to even at 2-2 for the season.

LMU will continue play at the Oregon Classic tonight when it meets host #14 Oregon at 8 p.m. The match will be streamed live at http://pac-12.com/live/university-oregon.