PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-14) to the LSU Shreveport Pilots Tuesday night on Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
Alanah Dugar led Louisiana Christian (5-19, 4-11 RRAC) with seven kills, five digs and two block assists, while
Kourtlyn Smith contributed six kills.
Vivien Brouillette supplied four kills without an attack error on eight attempts, hitting .500.
Emma Cother connected the offense with 19 assists and added four digs and the Wildcats' lone service ace.
The Wildcats faced an early 8-1 deficit to LSU Shreveport (17-9, 12-3 RRAC) in the opening set and called a timeout. Smith recorded four of the Wildcats' eight first-set kills, with the fourth trimming a 22-8 deficit to 22-9. Later, Dugar's kill and a Pilot attack error helped build a three-point run that Brouillette and
Holly Rowe completed with a combined block, bringing LCU within 23-12 before the set ended on consecutive kills.
The Wildcats mounted their closest late-set challenge in the second. Cother served an ace during a three-point stretch that cut a 13-5 deficit to 13-8. After falling behind 18-8, LCU worked back to 19-12 on three consecutive opponent attack errors.
Mallory Wills then finished another three-point run with a kill assisted by Dugar, narrowing the gap to 22-17. The Wildcats surrendered the final three points.
Joie Goodwin gave LCU an early lift in the third set with two kills, both assisted by Cother, to keep the Wildcats within 5-4. A six-point run later pushed the deficit from 12-8 to 18-8. LCU answered with two points, including a Rowe kill off a Cother assist, but could get no closer than eight. Dugar's seventh kill made it 22-13, and the Wildcats finished the set with a match-best nine kills.
Yadneli Molina anchored the back row with nine of LCU's 24 digs. Rowe and Wills joined Dugar with two block assists apiece as the Wildcats totaled four blocks, matching LSU Shreveport. LCU hit .102 with 23 kills and committed 10 reception errors.
The Wildcats and Pilots play their fifth and final scheduled meeting of the season on Wednesday with opening serve set for 6 p.m. on Gene Rushing Court in H.O. West Fieldhouse.
