Box Score LMU Knocks off Pilots in WCC Volleyball Action

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Loyola Marymount Lions survived a first set scare before completing a sweep of the Portland Pilots Saturday afternoon in West Coast Conference volleyball action at the Chiles Center. Freshman Makayla Lindburg and sophomore Emily Liger paced the Pilots with 10 and nine kills, respectively.

The Lions won by a score of 25-23, 25-16, 25-22 to improve to 8-5 on the season and 3-1 in WCC play. The Pilots fall to 0-13 overall and 0-4 in the league.

The first set was back-and-forth, featuring 10 ties and six lead changes. Trailing 14-10, the Pilots used an 8-2 run capped by a Brittney Markwith ace to take an 18-16 lead. LMU got back-to-back kills from Rachelle Suaava and Amber Mirabello for a 24-22 lead. Liger answered with her fourth kill of the set, but Kathleen Luft put the Lions on top with a kill to close the set.

Portland started strong in the second set as Lindburg had three early kills to put the Pilots up 6-2. It was all LMU the rest of the way as the Lions hit .400 in the game and held Portland to a .148 hitting percentage.

The third set featured another good beginning for the home team as UP gained a 6-2 lead early. LMU again was the aggressor late though, finishing the set by scoring five of the last six points to secure the victory. The Lions hit .333 in the final set compared to Portland's .115 attack percentage.

For the match the Lions hit .363 and the Pilots finished at .167. Portland had 7.5 team blocks, while LMU finished with 6.0 blocks.

Luft led three Lions in double figure kills with 14, while Litara Keil and Felicia Arriola added 13 and 12, respectively.

Portland senior Autumn Wedan, who entered the match ranked among the top 10 nationally in kills per game, was held to a season-low five kills on the day but finished with a team-high 11 digs.

The Pilots will return to the court on Thursday at Santa Clara for a 6 p.m. start. The road trip will continue at San Francisco on Saturday at 1 p.m.