Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
5-3
LMU
7-0
Women's Volleyball Suffers First Home Loss In Four Sets
9/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Long Beach State women's volleyball team suffered its first defeat at home, dropping a four-set decision to Loyola Marymount. It was the first home loss of the season for the Beach (5-3) and also snapped its five-match win streak.
All four sets seemed to be close from start to finish with both teams scoring at least 21 points in every set. In the end, LMU (7-0) was able to get the needed separation for the 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22 win. The Lions broke a 23-23 tie in the third set and 20-20 tie in the fourth set to come away with the needed set wins.
Sophie Bukovec paced the Beach with 12 kills while Alex Reid added in 10. However, the Beach hit only .152 as a team and only hit above .200 in the second set. Bre Mackie's five total blocks led another strong defensive effort at the net. The Beach totaled 14 blocks compared to LMU's seven.
Litara Keil led LMU with 19 kills while Sarah Sponcil and Caitlin DeWitt each pitched in 17. The Lions hit just a bit better than the Beach with a .174 hitting percentage but received 18 digs from Kristen Castellanos, as well as 51 assists and 13 digs from Hannah Tedrow.
The Beach jumped out to an early 4-0 lead to start the match but that lead dissipated just as quickly. LMU came back to take a 10-6 lead on a kill from Keil. The Beach took a 17-16 lead on a Mackie kill but four consecutive LMU points put the Lions out in front for good.
The Beach jumped out to another big lead in the second, building a 9-3 lead right out of the gates and never looked back. LMU crawled back within two late in the set before the Beach put it away. Both the third and fourth sets were tight throughout with the lead changing hands multiple times but LMU emerged in the critical moments to take the win.
Long Beach State is back in action tomorrow at 7 p.m. when it hosts Northern Colorado.
