LOS ANGELES — The San Francisco volleyball team battled all night long Thursday at Loyola Marymount, leading in each of the first three sets and winning the third, but the host Lions were able to come from behind and eek out a four-set West Coast Conference victory, 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22), at Gersten Pavilion.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dons (8-14, 1-10 WCC) pushed Loyola Marymount (16-6, 6-5 WCC) all night long, taking leads and never falling behind by more than four points until the fourth set. Only twice were the Dons trailing by more than three points through the first three sets, and both of those occurrences came in the first frame. The match featured 26 ties and seven different lead changes, all in the first three sets.
   
• Back-to-back points for the Dons late in the first set cut the Lions' lead to 21-20, thanks to a Kathya Garcia kill and an LMU error. But the Lions stopped USF there, getting consecutive kills from Alexis Morrow and clinching the 25-20 set win on a kill from Bo Culo to take a 1-0 match lead.
   
• Even after LMU had taken an early 7-4 lead in set two, back came USF with a 6-1 run to grab its own 10-8 advantage. The Dons built it to as much as 13-10 on another kill by Garcia, and then LMU pulled in close. The set became a one- or two-point contest for the next 15 points with both teams holding leads at one point. It again took a come-from-behind effort by the Lions to fight off USF, as they scored nine of the final 13 points in the set to erase an 18-16 deficit, win the set, 25-22, and take a 2-0 match lead.
   
• But San Francisco wasn't finished. For the third time in the match, the Dons took an early lead to start set three. LMU came back to go ahead 6-5, but that was the last time it would lead in the set. The Dons fought through nine tie scores following LMU's lead, including going on a 5-0 run with two kills from Garcia and three blocks by the front row to snap a 19-19 tie and go on to win the set, 25-21.
   
• Loyola Marymount appeared to have had enough of battling with the Dons all night in the fourth set. Looking to put USF away, LMU jumped out to a 10-1 lead. That lead grew to as much as 11 at 23-12, with the match all but in hand – And that's when USF again pushed back. The Dons went on an impressive 10-1 run of their own, logging three straight blocks at one point and getting three kills from Emily Zinger, another from Garcia and forcing two other LMU errors. San Francisco pulled to within 24-22 before LMU finally got the last point it needed on a kill from Tess Reid to clinch the match.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• .141: After Loyola Marymount hit .406 and .361 in the first two sets, the San Francisco defense settled in to hold the Lions to just .141 hitting. LMU hit just .125 in the third set and .154 in the fourth.
• 2: Two Dons turned in double-doubles Thursday. Garcia had 12 kills and 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the year, and Erin Anthony had 18 assists and 11 digs for her seventh.
• 3: San Francisco had three players log double-digit kills Thursday. Garcia led the way with 12. Lena Bondar and Emily Zinger both had 10. Zinger hit a team-best .304.

COMING UP

• San Francisco travels up the Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday to face WCC third-place team Pepperdine. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.