LOS ANGELES – A team effort propelled the Lions past visiting Pacific on Thursday night in a back-and-forth 3-2 victory in Gersten Pavilion. 

 

The Lions (11-4, 4-1 WCC) dropped the first two sets but roared back with a pair of 27-25 wins in the third and fourth sets before finishing the Tigers (10-6, 2-2 WCC) off 15-12 in the fifth set. Three Lions finished in double digits for kills, Michelle Shaffer, Kari Geissberger and Jacquelyn Moore.  

 

The big story is how the defense improved as the match wore on. The Tigers hit .370 in the first set and .241 in the second set but were held to .171 and .057 clips in the third and fourth sets respectively.  

 

Sam Hastings displayed her defensive prowess as the match wore on with a pair of big digs in the fourth and fifth sets.  

 

The first set was anybody's set with teams trading points and runs up until things were knotted up at 19. The Tigers went on a two point run and staved off a heroic effort by the Lions that included a Mia Schaefer ace to close to within a point at 24-23, but took the first set on the next serve. 

 

Geissberger managed four kills in the opener, with Amethyst Harper coming in hot with three kills on four attack attempts. 

 

The Lions and Tigers once again traded points and runs in the second set, with LMU taking its first lead of the set with a five point run, culminating in back-to-back kills from Geissberger and a 10-8 lead.  

 

The Tigers answered with a run of their own, winning four straight points and not looking back to win the second set 25-20. 

 

Geissberger collected four more kills in the second set and hit .429 while doing so. Moore also did well, boasting a .667 hitting percentage and four kills.  

 

LMU started to turn the tide in the third set. LMU took an early three-point lead with a Schafer-to-Shaffer connection.  

 

The Tigers battled back to tie things at nine.  

 
From there on, it was a battle. No team had more than a two-point advantage until the Lions won four straight to take a 20-17 lead. Isabella Bareford capped off the run with a service ace and forced the Tigers into a timeout. 

 

Pacific did not go away. They raced back and tied the set at 21, 23, 24, and 25, staving off a set point in there as well. 

 

The Lions ended the set with a pair of solid points. Amethyst Harper recorded her only kill of the set to give LMU a one-point lead before an attacking error gave them new life. 

 

Tyler Alcorn recorded a solo block and was 3-for-3 swinging in the third set to help keep the Lions alive. 

 

FOURTH SET  

The Lions looked lively coming out for the fourth set, scoring six of the first eight points and forcing an early timeout. Pacific seemed out-of-sorts, with the run ending with three straight attack errors. 

 

Pacific figured something out and went on a run of their own, turning the four-point deficit into a three-point lead before head coach Trent Kersten took a timeout of his own.  

 

The Lions would get close and fade over the next ten points, but a Tyler Alcorn kill knotted the score at 22.  

 

The Lions staved off match point with a Harper kill before Moore and Shaffer used an emphatic block to end the set and send the match to a deciding fifth set. 

 

Pacific hit just .057 in the third set with ten attack errors.  

 

The deciding set started similarly to the rest of the sets, with much back-and-forth. With the set tied at five, the Lions went on a run and did not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the match.  

 

Moore notched her final kill of the evening to give the Lions a one-point lead, followed by back-to-back Shaffer kills, forcing a Pacific timeout.  

 

The Lions continued to extend their advantage before winning the match on a service error to complete the "reverse sweep".  

 

Alcorn led the team with three kills in the deciding set to go along with a block assist. 

 

Defensively, Hastings recorded 13 digs to lead the team.  

 

The Lions combined for 10 blocks, with Alcorn the leader with three total blocks (one solo, four assists). 

 

Bareford recorded 23 assists, and Schafer pitched in with 20 of her own.  

 

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, October 7 at 1:00 p.m. (PT) as they take on the Dons of San Francisco. That match will be available to stream on ESPN+. 

 

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