San Diego, Calif – (Golden Gymnasium at PLNU) - Nearly eight hours removed from their first victory of the day, the tenth-ranked Vanguard Lions returned to Point Loma Nazarene’s Seaside Invitational Tournament to take on Mount Vernon Nazarene University of Ohio. Contrary to this morning’s come from behind victory, the Lions registered a 25-21 win in the first set before falling 18-25, 24-26, and 21-25, to lose their first match of the season, 3-1.
The Lions broke a 19-19 tie in the first set as they took advantage of one of eight MVNU attacking errors in the set. A block by Jessica Roy and Lisa Morgan gave Vanguard a two-point lead and the Lions marched on to the 25-21 victory to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.
However, Mount Vernon led by as many as 10 points in the second set and held off a late Vanguard surge to earn a 25-18 decision, tying the match at one set apiece.
Vanguard scooted out to a 12-7 cushion early in the third set and still maintained a five-point lead (20-15) late in the set but could not hold on for the win. MVNU’s Gina Porto powered the attack from behind as the Cougars overcame the five-point deficit and squeezed out a 26-24 victory over the Lions.
The Lions seemed to bounce back from the heart-breaking loss in set three to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the match-deciding fourth set. But the Cougars would not be contained by the Lions and pulled in front for the first time midway through the contest. Porto put MVNU ahead for good with one of her team-high 15 kills in the match. VU senior Heather DeJongh brought the Lions within one point, 21-22, but that would be as close as they would get. The Cougars placed three straight kills to complete the 25-21 win and the 3-1 victory in the match.
Jackie Albrecht and Courtney Springer joined Porto in double figure kills for the Cougars who improve to 5-2 this season. Seniors Kelsey Wirt and DeJongh pounded 15 and 14 kills for the Lions, and sophomore Jamie Heenan added 12 kills to the VU attack. Senior setter Meghan Walsh notched 44 assists and four players collected 13 or more digs each in VU’s first loss of the season.
Despite a 15-kill and 21-dig performance by Wirt, the Lions fall to 2-1 with this evening’s loss. Vanguard returns to Golden Gymnasium tomorrow afternoon for day two of the Seaside Invitational Tournament. The Lions are scheduled to take on Embry-Riddle (AZ) at 1:00 p.m. and conclude the tournament with a 5:00 p.m. match against Colorado Christian University.