The Loyola Marymount University women's volleyball team ended its season Dec. 1 with a loss to the nation’s top-ranked team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After holding No. 1 Stanford (30-1) to a draw early on, the Lions (21-10) eventually fell to the Cardinal, 25-20, 25-15, 25-17. The day before, LMU recorded a straight-set win over Duke in a first-round match.

Against Stanford, the Lions led 9-6 early on, and the match was tied as late as 14-14 when the Cardinal took over. The last LMU charge came in the third set, when with Meredith Teague serving the Lions scored four straight to pull within 12-11, before Stanford pulled away.

LMU was led by Sara Kovac, in her final match, with 12 kills, whkile junior Tess Redi posted 30 assists.

“It's more hats off to them, than what we could have done differently,” said LMU coach Aaron Mansfield. “There are so many lessons to take away, and we are so proud of this group for the resiliency to bounce back from four matches in six days. It's a special group.”

Against Duke, LMU took command early and dominated, 25-16, 25-22, 25-16, for its fifth win in seven matches against the Blue Devils. Kovac had 22 kills, Kekai Whitford had 15 digs, and Reid had 35 assists and 11 digs.

Men’s basketball

After opening the season with a team-record eight straight wins, the LMU men’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the 2018-19 campaign with a 82-58 setback at UCLA Dec. 2.

“It was a cocktail of things tonight,” said coach Mike Dunlap. “We were really focused on their three-point shooting, but it was their pressure, penetration, and free throws that were the biggest issue.”

The Bruins led wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 4-0 lead, stretching it to 39-27 at the half and, after LMU closed to 58-48, won going away. Dameane Douglas led the Lions with 11 points and eight rebounds.

LMU won its eighth game of the year Nov. 29, a 106-50 rout of Bethesda University at Gersten Pavilion, in which all Lion players scored, led by Jordan Bell’s 16 points and Ivan Alipiev’s 15. The Lions play at Cal State Fullerton Dec. 5,

Women’s basketball

The Lions (5-2) were overwhelmed at Denver on Dec. 1, losing 104-75 after trailing 24-10 after the first quarter. Jasmine Jones had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead LMU, which next plays at Cal State Northridge on Dec. 7.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).

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