Opening West Coast Conference play on the road at Gonzaga (4-8, 1-0 WCC) in front of 702 fans, LMU volleyball (10-2, 0-1 WCC) suffered a sweep at the hands of the Bulldogs by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 25-21.

BOX SCORE NOTES
Kaylie Loewen led all players with 14 kills on 30 swings for a .400 hitting percentage … LMU hit just .219 in the setback … senior Sara Kovac had 11 kills, but was the only Lion player to reach double-digit kills … senior Kekai Whitford led all players in digs with 19 … both LMU and Gonzaga served up two aces … the two teams played to 22 tie scores, but only two lead changes as Gonzaga controlled the match virtually from the start … the Lions were held under .200 hitting in each of the first two sets … Gonzaga hit better than .260 in all three stanzas … Jenna Kuehn dished out 21 assists, while Faith Smith managed 14 … the Bulldogs won the blocking battle, 7-4, as Katelyn Oppio had four block assists.

LION NOTES
The loss snaps a seven-match win streak for the Lions … LMU was swept for the first time this season … LMU has won five of the last eight against Gonzaga, but has now dropped three of the last five on the road in Spokane, Wash. …  the .219 hitting percentage is the lowest of the year for LMU, while the .297 clip for Gonzaga is the second-highest allowed by the Lions this season (.309 vs. Southern Utah, 9/14) … this is just the second time this season that LMU failed to record two players with double-digit kills (vs. Rhode Island, 8/24).

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS
LMU still has nine home matches remaining to be played in Gersten Pavilion … members of LMU's Little Lions Club get into all LMU home volleyball matches as part of the membership, while students, faculty and staff with a valid One Card also receive free General Admission access to every home match … to purchase season or single-game tickets, please contact the LMU Box Office at 310-338-5466 or visit LMULions.com/buywvb.

QUOTABLE
"Gonzaga played a really nice match. They slowed us down offensively and forced us to take some uncharacteristic swings. We didn't do a great job resetting our focus after long rallies, which caused some scoring runs that seemed to be the difference in the match. We will regroup and figure out how to beat a really good Portland team." – Head coach Aaron Mansfield

NEXT ROTATION
LMU will resume WCC play on Saturday when it travels to Portland, Ore. to meet Portland at 12 p.m. PT.