LAS VEGAS - Sarah Conwell tallied career highs with 27 kills and 15 digs to guide the University of Idaho volleyball team to an exciting five-set victory over previously unbeaten Loyola Marymount at the Alexis Park Classic hosted by UNLV.
The Vandals improved to 3-1 on the season with the 25-22, 25-22, 15-25, 21-25, 15-13 win while the Lions dropped to 3-1. It was Idaho's first victory over LMU in four matches.
"This was a great win for us," Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. "LMU is a good team and they will have a great season. We started off very strong, but our passing really struggled in sets three and four. We need to keep serving and passing at a high level throughout the entire match, but it was great that we were able to hold on for the win."
Conwell hit .407 for the match and Alicia Milo tallied 13 kills. Katie Tribley finished with 48 assists and five blocks, Anna McKinney totaled seven kills and eight blocks and Debbie Pederson added nine kills and five blocks.
As a team, Idaho hit .239 for the match and held a 14-9 advantage in blocks. Loyola Marymount hit .299 as a team and led 67-52 in digs.
Idaho hit .531 in the first set with only one attack error and rallied from a 17-14 deficit with four-straight points. The set was then tied at 18, 19, 20 and 21 before the Vandals pulled away for the 25-22 victory.
The Vandals built a 15-10 lead in set two, but the Lions fought back to take a 20-18 advantage. Idaho took the next five points and LMU responded with two to cut the margin to 23-22, but a Pederson kill and a LMU attack error gave Idaho the 2-0 advantage.
Idaho had just seven kills in set three and Loyola Marymount earned a 10-point victory in thanks to five service aces and two Idaho ball-handling errors.
The Lions used another strong performance in set four to build a 19-10 lead Idaho could not overcome.
Idaho returned to form in set five and stormed to an 11-7 margin and forced a timeout from LMU. The Lions cut the margin to 12-10 but the teams alternated points through the remainder of the set as Idaho claimed the 15-13 victory.
The Vandals play twice Saturday (Sept. 5) with matches vs. UNLV at 12:30 p.m. and #9 UCLA at 4:30 p.m.
