LOS ANGELES – For the second consecutive match, the offense for the San Francisco volleyball team was stymied, as the squad fell in straight sets to Loyola Marymount Thursday evening at Gersten Pavilion.
The Dons, who entered conference action with an unblemished record, now stand at 15-5 on the season, and 2-5 in West Coast Conference action. Meanwhile, the Lions are now riding a four-match winning streak as Loyola Marymount improves their overall tally to 13-6 (4-3 WCC).
USF came into the weekend leading the league in hitting percentage, but could only muster a .143 outing against the Lions. The Dons were led by seven kills for junior
Katarina Pilepic, while the pair of
Oluoma Okaro and
Courtney Sabahi each added five kills in the loss.
Kiara McKibben and
Jurja Vlasic finished with 11 assists apiece, and Vlasic and
Jessica Keenan recorded five digs for USF.
USF opened the evening with the first two points of the match, but after Kristen Castellanos took over at the service line, the Lions jumped out to a 6-3 advantage. Midway through the set,
Madison Murtagh's ace pulled the Dons within one. USF stayed within striking distance after Pilepic's kill made it 16-14 in favor of the Lions, but the home team pulled away to earn the 25-19 win in the frame.
In the second set of the night, the Dons again scored first, and USF held the 8-7 advantage after a Loyola Marymount service error. With Castellanos again manning the service line the Lions took advantage of three straight kills from Sarah Spncil to regain the 11-8 lead. A solo block for USF sophomore
Jessica Gaffney put the score at 20-17 in favor of the Lions, but the home team scored five unanswered to take the set 25-17.
After halftime, USF couldn't manage to get the offense back on track, hitting .038 in the final set. The Lions closed out the night with the 25-13 victory in the third, as Sponcil hit an impressive .727 in the victory. The sophomore led the team with 17 kills on 22 attempts, and was joined by Rachelle Suaava in double-digit scoring (10 kills).
Next up for USF is a test at Pepperdine on Saturday. First serve between the Dons and the Waves in Malibu is slated for 1 p.m.
