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Lions Post Victory over Portland, 3-1
Nov. 15, 2008
PORTLAND, Ore. - LMU (13-13, 3-9) snapped a six-match losing streak by defeating Portland (6-23, 0-13) by scores of 23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-22 on the road on Saturday in West Coast Conference play. The victory came in the final road match of the season for the Lions, as they return home for their final four matches of the year. Freshman Ariana Covington led all players with a career-high 21 kills on 45 attacks for a .356 hitting percentage. Senior Emily Day carried the bulk of the remaining load, totaling 15 kills and 12 digs for a double-double. In addition, the native of Torrance, Calif. posted a block solo and five block assists as the Lions totaled 11.5 total team blocks in the win. Sophomore Renee Horton dished-out 46 assists as LMU hit .348 (61-for-138) as a team. Freshman Lauren DeGrandmont and sophomore Megan Nash collected 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Ashley Grayson led the Pilot attack as she connected for 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .158. She teamed the team-high 16 kills with 12 digs for a double-double. Jessica Clemens and K.C. Fox also had strong offensive days for Portland, posting 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Kaylyn Jones set the offense, passing-out 45 assists as Portland hit .206 as a team in the loss. Portland took a very close set-one victory by a score of 25-23 after Grayson posted seven kills in the opening frame. LMU hit .256 in the period to Portland's .350. Nash proved very effective for the Lions, totaling four kills on five attacks for an .800 hitting percentage. The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie before Portland took a 15-12 lead on back-to-back kills from Fox and Marissa Plummer to force a timeout. The lead grew to 19-15 out of the break, but the Lions clawed back to 21-19 on a Becky Stehling kill and a Pilot attack error. After a Day kill and a timeout with the Lions trailing by one point, LMU knotted the set at 23 points apiece. Unfortunately for LMU, that would be as far as it would come to taking the set, losing the next two points on kills from Jennifer Sheedy and Grayson.
The Lions responded in set two, winning a 25-17 decision. Covington came unglued in the set, tallying seven of her 21 kills with a .636 hitting percentage. Day also proved effective, amassing four kills and a .571 mark. The Lions claimed an early 11-7 lead on consecutive attack errors from Grayson. Portland managed to close the gap a bit at 15-13, but LMU accelerated to an 18-14 lead just moments later on a Christa Scholtz kill to force a timeout. Covington put kills away for LMU's 20th, 21st and 22nd points as the Lions cruised to the 25-17 victory on a Portland service error. LMU took set three by the same count as set two, 25-17. Once again, it was Covington with seven kills who led the way in the victory. LMU hit .351 as a team in the period, while holding Portland to a .079 mark of its own. LMU trailed early in the set, finding itself facing a 13-10 deficit after a Day attack error. The Lions refused to surrender the set, battling back to even at 15 points apiece en route to taking a 21-16 advantage on kills from Stehling and Covington to force a Portland timeout. The Pilots managed to stop the bleeding, finding the floor with the first point out of the break, before LMU went on a four-point swing to take the set on two Portland attack errors. The fourth set proved much closer than the previous two, as LMU squeaked-out the 25-22 set victory for the match. Day took the reins in the period, totaling six kills on 12 attacks for a .417 hitting percentage. Clemens, Sheedy and Grayson each posted four kills in the frame for Portland to make things interesting. Portland forced an early LMU timeout after taking each of the first three points in the set. The deficit quickly grew to 6-1 out of the break before LMU picked its pace up to close the gap to just 6-5 with four unanswered points. LMU eventually evened the tally at 13 points on another Portland attack error. From that point, the two teams traded blows to a tie at 21 before Covington and Day put kills away to force a Pilot timeout at 23-21. Sheedy posted her last kill on the first play out of the timeout, but Stehling and Day would team for back-to-back kills from Horton to hand LMU the victory. LMU will return to action when it continues WCC play at home versus San Diego on November 20 at 7 p.m. The match against the Toreros is the first of two matches in the final West Coast Conference weekend of the season for the Lions. |
