PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Loyola Marymount Lions limited the Portland Pilots offense to win 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in the Chiles Center. The Pilots were led by Emily Liger who notched nine kills on the day.
LMU (12-6, 3-3 WCC) topped Portland (11-7, 1-5 WCC) with set scores of 25-21, 25-10, and 25-19.
The Lions totalled 53 digs, nine blocks, and limited the Pilots to a .083 hitting percentage during the match.
Emily Liger had a huge diving defensive play that kept a point alive that a kill by Hannah Troutman would eventually win for the Pilots to tie the set up at five. Both sides struggled for momentum as the Lions and Pilots would tie 11 times and have five lead changes through the set. LMU used a four point run to jump ahead 17-13, but Portland responded to tie it up at 18. Another kill by Troutman tied the set up at 21 which then sent LMU on a four point run to close out the set. The Lions used a .314 hitting percentage to take the early match lead 1-0.
LMU came out strong in the second taking a 10-4 lead. Katie Sullivan hit a pair of kills for Portland to gain some momentum and then she teamed up with Liger on a block to bring the score to 12-7. The Lions used impressive defense to shut down Portland's attack and take the 2-0 lead heading into the break.
Portland opened up the third with two blocks and a four point run to take the early lead. The Pilots maintained the lead and momentum until LMU's Sarah Sponcil hit a kill to give the visitors their first lead of the set at 12-11. From then on the Lions held off the Pilots to win the set and the match.
The Pilots will be on the road for the next couple of weeks with the first stop being sunny San Diego to take on the Toreros at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday Oct. 15.
