Aug. 30, 2008

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - LMU (2-1) was swept in the championship match of the MCM Elegante Logo Classic by host University of New Mexico (3-0), 25-22, 25-16, 25-22, on Saturday night in Albuquerque, N.M. Senior Emily Day narrowly missed her third consecutive double-double, notching a team-best nine kills, a block solo, a block assist and 10 digs as the Lions finished as the tournament runner-up.

Following the match, Day, Becky Stehling and Megan Nash were each named to the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic All-Tournament team. New Mexico placed four players on the All-Tournament squad, led by Tournament MVP, Gayle Tripp. Jeanne Fairchild, Anna Lehne and Jade Michaelsen rounded-out the Lobo selections.

Freshman Ariana Covington contributed six kills for the Lions in the loss, while Stehling continued to play well with six kills and four block assists. Libero Whitney Leonard posted 15 digs, while setter Renee Horton dished-out 21 assists and recorded four block assists.

The Lobos were guided by Fairchild and Rose Morris on the attack, collecting 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Fairchild totaled nine digs, a block solo and a block assist to accompany her .257 hitting percentage (16-for-35). Morris was even better in terms of hitting percentage, posting a .304 mark (10-for-23) with four digs and a block assist. The leaders at the net proved to be setter Michaelsen and middle blocker Allie Suiter. Michaelsen posted a block solo and five block assists to accompany her match-high 34 assists, while Suiter notched two block assists and two block solos to guide the Lobos to 12 total team blocks (four block solos and 16 block assists). Tripp got the bulk of the digs for New Mexico, tallying a match-best 17 in the victory.

The Lions and Lobos competed to an 8-8 draw to start set one of the championship match. LMU seemed to seize momentum just a few plays later after a kill and block solo by Day ran the tally to 11-8 in favor of the Lions. The senior from Torrance, Calif. finished the first period with six kills. New Mexico would not let the Lions run away with the set, as Suiter collected a block solo and Fairchild notched two of her five kills in the set to put the Lobos on top by a count of 13-12. The two teams traded blows, battling back and forth to a 19-17 Lobo lead, capped by a Lehne kill. The Lions would keep the deficit to two points at 20-18 on a Nash kill, but the Lobos quickly went on a run, pushing the score to 24-20 on a Day service error. LMU survived two set-points as New Mexico committed a service and attack error, but Day returned the favor at 24-22 on an attack error to hand the Lobos the 1-0 advantage.

LMU led early in set two, taking a comfortable 8-3 lead before the Lobos scraped back to even at 10-10. Carrying momentum, New Mexico took control of the period and scored five unanswered points to take a 15-12 advantage just moments later. The lead quickly became 21-14 in favor of the Lobos on one of Fairchild's 16 match kills before a solo block by Suiter ran the tally to 22-15. After LMU was hit with a blocking error and a receiving error to make it set-point, the Lions posted a ball-handling error to hand New Mexico the 2-0 lead headed into the break.

The Lions dropped set three and the match after falling 25-22 in the period. LMU trailed by only one at 9-8 before the Lobos posted four unanswered points to extend the advantage to 13-8. After the tally was pushed to 14-9, LMU notched a few unanswered points of its own, knotting the score at 14 on a kill by Nash, a service ace by Horton and two Lobo attack errors. New Mexico did not trail for long, re-claiming a healthy three-point lead at 21-18 on a Lion attack error and a service ace from Suiter. Consecutive kills from Lehne and Fairchild pushed the set to match-point at 24-20 before the Lions stuffed the Lobos twice to make things interesting and send the score to 24-22. Unfortunately for LMU, that would be as close as it would come to extending the match to a fourth set, as Fairchild drove the final spike into the floor to ensure the tournament championship for the Lobos. The senior finished the final set with eight kills on 15 swings for a .400 attack percentage.

The Lions return to action next weekend when they travel to Middle Tennessee State for the Blue Raider Bash that takes place on Friday and Saturday. LMU will square-off against Lipscomb University on Friday at 5 p.m. before playing Middle Tennessee State and Appalachian State on Saturday.