Santa Clara Volleyball Team Falls in 3 to LMU
Santa Clara fell 3-0 to LMU in its opening match of 2010 WCC play on Thursday night. Game scores were 25-22, 25-18 and 25-23. Santa Clara is 9-6 and 0-1 in the WCC and LMU is 8-7 and 1-0 in the WCC. Santa Clara hosts Pepperdine on Sat., Oct. 2 at 1 pm in the Leavey Center.
Santa Clara once again was without sophomore Katherine Douglas, who has battled the injury bug all season, playing in just two of the Broncos 15 matches.
"LMU came out ready to play. They played a great match tonight and had great energy," said Bronco head coach Jon Wallace. "They clearly wanted it more than we did and they made us feel uncomfortable all night long. Even when we put a little pressure on them in set three, they hung in there and finished it off. We need to be more mature in our preparation. All the teams in our conference will be tough this year and we need to play with a stronger conviction with what we want to do."
In the match, Santa Clara hit .205 (19 e, 119 attacks) with 43 kills, 55 digs, 41 assists, five team blocks and no service aces. In the match, LMU hit .279 (10 e, 122 attacks) with 44 kills, 50 digs, 42 assists, eight team blocks and four service aces.
Kayla Lommori had 15 kills (5 e, 38 att), hitting .263. Kaleigh Durket collected 10 kills (5 e, 23 att), hitting .217. Dana Knudsen added eight kills (3e, 16 att.), hitting .312. Emily Burke had 33 assists and 13 digs, collecting four kills, hitting .444. Bridget O'Hara had 12 digs. LMU was led by 12 kills by Felicia Arriola and 11 by Jasmine Rankins.
In the first set, the two started slow with kills by Lommori and Schmidt. LMU took a 6-2 lead on a Lion kill, a service ace by Betsi Metter and a Bronco hitting error. Lommori kills scored three of the next four points, making it 7-5 Lions. LMU scored five of the next seven points to move ahead 12-7. Santa Clara whistled for timeout, but the Lions kept pushing coming out of it, making it 17-10 LMU. Two straight team blocks by Knudsen and Schmidt gave the Broncos three straight points, pushing it to 18-14 LMU. Lmu called for a timeout. LMU scored two of the next three points to make it 20-15 and SCU called timeout again. A Lion service error and back-to-back kills by Williamson and Burke brought the Broncos within two, 20-18 LMU. Timeout LMU! A Lion kill by Jasmine Rankins followed by another Knudsen kill and a team block by Knudsen and Burke made it 21-20 Lions. LMU scored three of the next four points to move ahead 24-21. A Burke dump was followed by a kill by Felcia Arriola to give the Lions set one, 25-22. Santa Clara hit .243 (15k, 6e, 37att.) with Lommori gathering seven kills. LMU hit .262 (15k, 4e, 42att.) with Arriola knocking down six kills.
To open set two, the Lions took a 5-1 lead on Bronco errors. Timeout Broncos. The Lions won four of the next six points to take a 9-5 lead. Two Knudsen kills on the slide and another a crushing kill by Lommori made it 11-8 Lions. The Lions scored five straight before Wallace whistled for his second timeout. With the Lions up 16-8, back-to-back kills by Lommori and Schmidt silenced the Lions onslaught. LMU went up 19-11 when Durket tipped the ball into the Lion team block. SCU scored three of the next five points to make it 21-14 Lions. A block solo by Williamson, a kill by Lommori and a Lion service error made it 23-17 LMU. A kill by Alyse Hensley and Lommori's 12th of the match, 24-18 Lions. A kill by Megan Nash gave the Lions a 25-18 set two win. SCU hit .171 (13k, 7e, 35att) with Lommori collecting five kills. LMU hit .382 (14k, 1e, 34 att) with Arriola knocking down four kills.
Set three began with Lions taking a 5-2 lead after two early ties. A Knudsen kill off a Lion players head and a hitting error by the Lions tied it 5-5. Burke swung hard and knocked the ball of a Lion player's face for a kill to give SCU a 6-5 lead. Tying it five times, Santa Clara went up 12-10 on a hitting error by the Lions. Durket's eighth kill of the match made it 13-11 Broncos. A lift by the Lions and a kill by Lommori and SCU went ahead 16-13. Timeout Lions. The Lions scored four of the next six points to tie it up 17-17, timeout Broncos. Schmidt's kill to the middle tied it up 19-19. The Lions scored two straight on Bronco attack errors. A kill by Williamson and a attack error by the Lions made it 21-21. A hitting error by Arriola gave the Broncos a 22-21 lead and the Lions whistled for timeout. Durket's hit the ball out of bounds to tie it up, but she followed it up with a kill to an empty back row to make it 23-22 Broncos. After two straight Lion points, including a team block by Rankins and Nash, Santa Clara called for time, down 24-23. A hitting error by Knudsen gave the Lions a 25-23 set win. SCU hit .200 in the set and LMU hit .217 in the set.
