PALO ALTO, Calif. - LMU won a five-set classic against Washington on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. 

 

The Lions got out to a two-set lead before the Huskies tied things up after the fourth. After a back-and-forth fifth set, the Lions clutched up to finish off the match 19-17. 

 

Washington raced out to an early lead in the first set before the Lions turned on the defense awoke and dominated the rest of the way. Kalani Hayes and Sophia Meyers combined for a block to make it 5-7. After the Huskies answered, Meyers laced a big swing to bring it back to 6-8. The Huskies answered with another before Jiana Lawson had a huge solo block to bring it within one again.  

 

Lawson got a quick set a point later from Mia Schafer soon thereafter for 8-10. The Lions continued to trade points until knotting it up with a Meyers and Lawson double block at 15. Sam Hastings followed up by serving for four straight points to take a commanding 19-15 lead. The Lions shored up the set with six of the final nine points of the set.  

 

LMU hit .296 as a team in the first set with Hayes going 3-for-3 with 1.5 blocks and Meyers going 6-for-11 with an ace and a pair of block assists. They also held the Huskies to a .029 hitting percentage and were only blocked once. 

 

Meyers continued to be a thorn in the side of the Huskies with an ace early in the second set on a serve that dropped viciously after crossing the net. Marlee Arrington and Hayes combined on a block to give the Lions a 4-2 lead and started a run of five straight points. Lawson added an ace in that run and came up with an acrobatic save on a long rally to give the Lions a 7-2 lead.  

 

The Lions never looked back as Washington attempted to get back even. After the Huskies made it 11-9, Lawson had a big kill and LMU were off to the races on another big run again. Four straight points that included another kill from Lawson and another combo block from Lawson and Arrington and the Lions built a 15-9 lead.  

 

The Huskies pulled within three points at 18-15, but a Paige Flickinger kill and then a Hayes solo block in the middle pushed the lead to five once again. From there, both teams traded points until a bad set by the Huskies ended the set at 25-20 in favor of LMU. 

 

The Lions matched their first set hitting with a .296 in the second set. They managed three total blocks and a pair of aces. LMU really capitalized on the Huskies defensive and passing errors as Washington hit .308 in the second set but could not pull ahead. 

 

The Lions looked like they may end the game early with a sweep, cruising out to a 19-12 lead after a Leah Burrell left-handed rocket across court, but the Huskies regrouped after a timeout and seven of the following nine points before ultimately taking the third set 25-23. 

 

The stats in the third do not tell the story of the set, with the Lions hitting .308 and managing four blocks. The Huskies took advantage of four service errors and recorded a pair of aces in the come-from-behind set win.  

 

Washington again took advantage of some uncharacteristic errors from the Lions and got on the block to limit the Lions to 18 points in the fourth set. The Lions were held to a negative hitting percentage and blocked four times as the Huskies knotted the match at two sets apiece.  

 

Washington got out to an early lead in the fifth set, winning the first two points. After trading points over the next nine points, the Lions finally won back-to-back points to knot the score up at 6 on a Meyers kill. The Huskies responded with two straight points before the Lions went and got two straight. LMU finally went ahead on an Arrington rocket through the block on the right side. The Huskies would take a timeout right after an attack error at 11-9.  

 

The Lions would go on to win three of the next four points before a Husky rally tied the match at 13. The two teams would trade points as the Huskies endured four set points before the Lions could put two in a row away for a 19-17 win. 

 

The celebration was put on hold for a few minutes as the Huskies challenged a pancake dig on the Lions match-winning point, but after checking the monitor the point was confirmed and the Lions' bench stormed the court in celebration.  

 

The Lions hit an astounding .545 in the decider. Meyers was the catalyst, notching five more kills while hitting .556. Lawson continued to be a nuisance all around with a pair of combo blocks, an ace and a kill. 

 

Overall, the Lions hit .255 and limited the Huskies to .199 hitting. LMU also notched 17 team blocks with Hayes going for four solo blocks in the match. Meyers notched 21 kills on .375 hitting with a pair of aces and three combo blocks to boot. Lawson had eight kills on .444 hitting with a pair of aces and 4.5 blocks while being integral in keeping the energy flowing throughout the match.  

 

Mia Schafer put up 22 assists while Delfina Schuh put up 27. Sam Hastings notched 21 digs and had three assists as her usual steady self.  

 

The Lions will face Stanford at Maples Pavilion on Saturday, December 7 at 6:00 p.m. (PT) with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16.