SAN FRANCISCO — LMU defeated San Francisco 3-2 on Thursday, taking the match 25-14, 25-18, 26-28, 19-25, 15-8. The Lions finished with 61 kills and a .220 hitting percentage while holding San Francisco to .146. The team also achieved at least nine blocks for the third consecutive game.
Maria Tabacuks powered the LMU attack with a team-high 26 kills while hitting .306 and totaling a team-high 26.5 points. Tabacuks also added 10 digs and has now maintained a hitting percentage of at least .306 in two consecutive matches.
Delfina Schuh directed the Lions offensively with a team-high 45 assists while also recording a team-high 18 digs, four kills and one block.
Nicole Schuetz added 13 kills on a .286 hitting percentage while collecting a career-high 15 digs.
Anya Santrac delivered 11 kills, surpassing her season average of 4.91, while adding nine digs and five blocks, well above her season average of 0.91, to total 13.5 points.
Aleksandra Stojanovic contributed five blocks, surpassing her season average of 3.8, along with two kills.
Kayla Lopez added a season-high three service aces.
The Lions moved in front early in the opening set, using
Delfina Schuh's serve to turn a 2-1 edge into a 6-1 lead with a
Maria Tabacuks kill, a Tabacuks-
Zaria Thornton block and a pair of San Francisco attack errors. After San Francisco pulled within 9-4, the Lions answered with six straight points, including two
Kayla Lopez service aces and a block by
Anya Santrac and
Aleksandra Stojanovic, to build a 15-4 lead. San Francisco scored three straight to make it 16-8, but the Lions kept the margin in hand behind kills from Schuh,
Nicole Schuetz, Stojanovic, Tabacuks and Thornton. Schuetz's kill pushed the Lions to 24-13, and a San Francisco attack error closed the set for the Lions, 25-14.
With the Lions ahead 4-3, Santrac's kill began a seven-point run, and Lopez served the next six points as the Lions built an 11-3 lead behind her ace and kills from Schuh, Santrac, Schuetz and Tabacuks. San Francisco scored consecutive points to make it 11-5 and later used a Petra Fritz kill and Emma Neukirchen ace to get to 17-11, but the Lions answered those stretches with kills by Schuetz and Tabacuks to stay ahead. After Andjela Sojic's kill brought San Francisco to 19-14, a San Francisco service error and three straight Santrac kills moved the Lions to 23-14. The Lions reached set point at 24-15 on a San Francisco attack error, and after San Francisco scored three straight, Tabacuks closed the set at 25-18 with a kill.
The Lions built a 6-2 lead in the third set behind two Tabacuks kills, a Schuetz kill, and a Thornton-Santrac block, but San Francisco drew even at 6-6 on Adelynn Legates' service ace. San Francisco moved in front 14-12 on Jordan Smart's kill, and the Lions answered with four straight points — a San Francisco service error, kills by Schuetz and Santrac, and a Legates attack error — to go ahead 16-14. After San Francisco tied the set at 16-16, 18-18, and 19-19, the Lions used a Tabacuks kill, a
Gabriella Cascione ace, and a Katariina Korhonen attack error to move ahead 22-19, then later reached 24-23 on an Anica Bobic attack error. San Francisco came back to tie it at 24-24, traded points through 26-26, and closed the set on Andjela Sojic's kill and Laura Amaro's service ace for a 28-26 win.
After San Francisco scored the first three points of the fourth set with kills by Katariina Korhonen and Petra Fritz, the Lions tied it at 4-4 on a Fritz attack error and moved ahead 6-5 on a Stojanovic-Santrac block.
Kyla Firestone served an ace for an 8-7 lead, and after San Francisco tied it, the Lions took three straight points behind Santrac-Stojanovic block and two San Francisco attack errors to go up 11-8. San Francisco worked back to 13-13, the Lions twice pushed ahead by two at 16-14 and 17-15, and San Francisco answered with four straight points for a 19-17 edge before the Lions tied it at 19-19 on consecutive San Francisco attack errors. From there, San Francisco scored the final six points, getting a service ace and block from Jordan Smart and kills by Korhonen and Emma Neukirchen to close the set 25-19.
Schuetz opened the fifth set with a kill, and the Lions moved ahead 4-1 behind kills from Thornton and Tabacuks. Tabacuks added two more kills as the Lions stretched the lead to 9-3, but San Francisco cut the gap to 9-6 on kills by Andjela Sojic and Katariina Korhonen. Santrac stopped that run with a kill, Tabacuks put down two more late, and Cascione served an ace on the final point to finish the set 15-8 for the Lions.
The Lions improved to 10-2 overall and 1-0 in West Coast Conference play, while San Francisco moved to 8-6 overall and 0-1 in WCC play.
Up Next for LMU Women's Volleyball
Up next, the Lions volleyball team visits Santa Clara on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at 1 p.m. in Santa Clara, California.
