LOS ANGELES – The LMU women's volleyball team used a strong first game to take an early lead on Thursday night against #8 BYU before ultimately falling in the match, 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 
 
The Lions fed off the energy of the home crowd and used a 3-0 run to take a 10-6 lead and force a BYU timeout. The Cougars would climb back into the set and tie the score at 12-all, before LMU answered with three straight kills off the swings of Audrey Klemp then twice from Kari Geissberger. The Lions put together four unanswered points with Isabella Bareford serving later in the set to take a 23-17 advantage before ultimately taking the set.
 
With the score of the second set tied at 4-4, BYU rattled off six unanswered to take a 10-4 lead. The Lions would have back to-back points including a Mary Shroll ace late in the set, before the Cougars closed it out.
 
The third set came down to match point for the BYU, which the Lions fought off for six straight points. Megan Rice started the rally with a kill, and Annabella Pirrotta followed with an ace. Rice and Jacquelyn Moore paired up for a block to cut the deficit to just two, before BYU ultimately closed out the set.
 
BYU started the final set with a 3-0 lead, then went ahead 5-1 and 8-4. The Lions scored two straight points to make it an 8-6 game, but couldn't get it any closer for the remainder of the set.
 
The Lions forced BYU to drop a set for the first time in 10 matches, led by a dozen kills and digs from Rice and 38 assists from Bareford.
 
Another nationally ranked opponent comes to the Bluff on Saturday as LMU hosts #22 San Diego.