Looking to pick up its first win of the WCC schedule, LMU volleyball (11-2, 1-1 WCC) outlasted Portland (12-2, 0-2 WCC) in a hard-fought five-set thriller from the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. on Saturday. LMU won the first two sets, but had to come-from-behind in the fifth to eventually secure the 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 22-25, 15-13 victory.

COMEBACK TO CLOSE IT OUT
While LMU took the opening two sets, Portland forced a fifth by way of strong third and fourth periods … the Lions hit .480 in the third, but the Pilots responded with a .517 clip before registering a mark of .371 in the fourth … neither team hit for an effective clip in the fifth, but LMU's fight proved enough to record the win … the Lions trailed 8-4 in the final stanza, but called a timeout that seemingly served its purpose … the Lions rattled-off a pair of points out of the huddle, cutting the deficit to two at 8-6, before eventually scratching back even at 9-9 on a Savannah Slattery ace that preceded a Bo Culo kill … knotted at 12, LMU benefitted from a service error before Shayla Hoeft erred on the attack to send the match to match-point in favor of LMU at 14-12 … although Portland escaped the first match-point chance, LMU fed Slattery on the ensuing play, and the junior responded with her 17^th kill of the afternoon.

BOX SCORE NOTES
Culo led all players with 25 kills on 47 swings for a .404 hitting percentage, and teamed the kills with 10 digs to manage a double-double … Culo had seven kills in the second and 10 more in the fourth to highlight her strong performance … Slattery hit a blistering .567 while amassing 17 kills on 30 errorless swings … Slattery also served up two of LMU's six service aces … Emma Johnson was the final Lion to finish with double-digit kills, registering 12 while hitting .318 and contributing four block assists … junior setter Tess Reid set the Lion attack to a .306 team hitting percentage, dishing out a match-best 59 assists to accompany 11 digs for a double-double … senior Kekai Whitford led all players with 15 digs from the libero position … Izzy Guzik helped Portland push LMU to the limit, collecting 20 kills with two aces and eight digs … the Pilots served up five aces and hit .225 overall … the two teams were rather even in blocking, with Portland collecting nine total blocks to LMU's seven … LMU erred on 21 serves, while Portland committed 14 service errors … although the match scores were close throughout, no set featured more than one lead change, as the two teams played to 18 tie scores and four lead changes over the course of the five sets.

LION NOTES
LMU's 12-2 start to the season is the best since opening the 2014 campaign 13-1 … LMU moves to 1-1 in five-set matches this year … Culo's 25 kills are a new career-high, and the double-double is her first as a Lion … the 25 kills are also the  most for a Lion this year (previous: Kovac, 23 vs. Cal Poly on 8/31) … Reid has now posted six double-doubles on the year … the Lions have now won 15 straight matches against Portland (54-11 overall).

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
"We are pleased with any win we can get on the road in this conference. Our team stuck together, even when things got tough, which I'm really proud of them for. Our outsides were about as good as they have been all year which really made our offense tough to stop. Our team also did a nice job of executing our scouting report which made Portland feel uncomfortable for periods of the match." - Head Coach Aaron Mansfield

NEXT ROTATION
LMU will have a quick turnaround in WCC play, as the Lions welcome San Diego to Gersten Pavilion on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. PT match.