LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Playing in its seventh five-set match of season, the Gonzaga University women's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision at Loyola Marymount University Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs looked destined to again pull out a miracle having knotted the match at 2-2 after losing the first two sets but the Lions claimed the 15-9 fifth-set victory for the win.
Gonzaga (7-15, 1-10 WCC) fell to Loyola Marymount (13-11, 6-5 WCC) 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 9-15.
Junior Kylie Edinger and sophomores Kristina Lavrisha and Meredith Crenshaw came up big in the third set to help GU starve off a 3-0 sweep by the Lions. The three combined for 12 of the Bulldogs 16 kills in the set. But it was senior Kaprina Goodwin that sealed the deal for Gonzaga, hammering home the winning kill, her then-seventh of the match.
Goodwin kept the hot hand in the fourth set, collecting five kills, including the kill that put Gonzaga up 24-22. It was then Crenshaw that secured the victory with a monster block on Alyse Hensley's attack attempt, her second solo block of the afternoon.
But after hitting .244 and .273 in the third and fourth sets, respectively, Gonzaga's efficiency faltered. The Bulldogs started the fifth set down 3-0 after a ball handling error and two attack errors. The Lions increased their lead to 7-2 not on their own offensive brilliance but on the miscues of GU who added two more attack attempts and a service error.
Gonzaga couldn't regain its composure, finishing the fifth set with six kills and six attack errors on 26 attempts. Loyola Marymount tallied seven kills, with just one error, on 25 attempts for the six-point victory.
The Bulldogs closed out the match with four players in double-figure kills. Junior Terran Poindexter led the way with 14; Goodwin had 12 and Crenshaw and Edinger chipped in 11 apiece.
Senior setter Denise Van de Mortel collected a double-double, passing out 50 assists and digging up 11 balls. She also had six kills and one block assist.
Classmate Laura Day had a match-tying high 27 digs; which also was a career-high for her.
The Lions were led by Jasmine Rankins with 17 kills and 14 digs.
The Bulldogs return home for their final two home matches of the season. Gonzaga hosts the University of San Diego Thursday at 6 p.m. and Saint Mary's College on Saturday at Noon.
