Portland is swept by the Lions Thursday evening in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Calif. ---The Portland Pilots fell in three games (30-23, 30-22, 30-16) to the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference women’s volleyball opener for both schools Thursday evening at Gersten Pavilion. The Pilots (7-7, 0-1 WCC) struggled to a .079 hitting percentage, while the Lions (13-3, 1-0 WCC) hit at a .331 clip for the match. Sophomore Ashley Grayson led the Pilots with nine kills, while LMU’s Christianna Reneau recorded a double-double with game highs of 20 kills and 14 digs.

LMU returned to its winning ways after having a 10-match winning streak snapped on Tuesday with a five-game loss at the hands of UC Santa Barbara. The Lions, who split the season series with the Pilots last year, improved to 32-8 in the all-time series between the schools.

"For us to get better and improve in the WCC our players need to understand that you must be focused and prepared every day," Portland head coach Doug Sparks said. "That starts with practice, and for us to compete in a very tough conference like the WCC, we need to have great practices and this week we did not. Not to take anything away from LMU, which is a great program, but we did not perform like we can tonight."

Portland looked to have the early momentum after holding a 13-9 lead in the first game, but the Lions tallied nine of the next ten points to gain an 18-14 lead. The Pilots closed to within 20-19, but LMU closed out the first game with ease behind Reneau’s seven kills. The Lions hit .273 in the first game compared to Portland’s .095 in the 30-23 win.

Game two was more of the same as LMU hit .359 compared to the Pilots’ .111. Portland managed just 10 kills and 12 digs in the game, while LMU had 18 kills and 19 digs, again led by Reneau with eight winners and seven digs for the 30-22 win.

The third and final game was all Lions after the home team raced to a 14-4 lead with eight unanswered points. Four Lions had multiple kills in the game, while the Pilots managed just eight kills in the 30-16 loss.

LMU’s Heather Hughes also tallied a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs, while Lions setter Ashley Dutro recorded 39 assists and 12 digs. Portland freshman Maria Clemens tallied seven kills, while senior libero Murphy McClenahan had a team-high 13 digs. Grayson added two solo and two block assists to her team-best nine kills.

"This match needs to be a big picture lesson for our program," Sparks said. "We will break down tape tonight and go over some things tomorrow, but ultimately we need to be more engaged and focused. I am confident that this group is strong enough to overcome a performance like tonight, but we must come back and prove that on Saturday."

Portland will look to bounce back on Saturday as they travel to No. 23 Pepperdine on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Pilots will return for their WCC home opener on Saturday, Oct. 7 against Gonzaga at 7 p.m.