LOS ANGELES – Pacific volleyball (10-6, 2-2) suffered a heartbreaking loss Thursday evening at Loyola Marymount (11-4, 4-1), losing in five sets after holding a 2-0 lead. The third and fourth sets both went into extras in the 23-25, 20-25, 27-25, 27-25, 15-12 win by the Lions.

LMU held onto third place in the WCC, trailing Pepperdine (5-0) and Pacific's Saturday opponent, San Diego (4-0). Pacific remains in fourth place.
 
In a close match that featured 53 ties and 23 lead changes, fifth-year senior Biamba Kabengele and senior Alexa Edwards led the attack for the Tigers, combining for 34 kills. Edwards led Pacific with 18, hitting .282 (18-7-39). Kabengele had 16 kills.

The top six Pacific hitters each contributed significantly in the match.  In addition to Edwards and Kabengele, Darina Kumanova had 10 kills, Ramonni Cook, nine, Emily Van Groningen, seven, and Logan Blutreich, three.
 
Junior Megan Nishimura had a team-best 16 digs. Edwards had 10 digs and a team-best three aces. Pacific had 11 blocks with Van Groningen recording five.
 
The first set was a back-and-forth affair where the margin was never larger than two points and the score was tied 17 times. Down 19-18, the Tigers went on a 6-1 run to take a 24-20 lead, the largest lead in the set. LMU battled back from set point with three tallies to pull within one before senior Kumanova put the match away with a kill, giving the Tigers a 25-23 win. Kabengele had seven first-set kills; Edwards, six. The Tigers hit .370 (16-6-27) in the first set.
 
Midway through the second set, the Tigers trailed 10-8 but went on an 8-1 run to post a five-point edge, 16-11. Kabengele had four kills in the run. The Lions could get no closer than three points the rest of the way as Pacific posted the 25-20 win. The Tigers hit .241 (11-4-29) in the set.
 
The third set has six lead changes before the Lions forged a 20-17 lead. Pacific went on a 4-1 run to tie the match at 21 keyed by a pair of Alexa Edwards kills. LMU moved to a 23-21 edge then Pacific responded with two straight points to tie the match at 23 behind a Kabengele kill and a Kumanova/Van Groningen block. The two teams traded points to tie at 24 and 25 before LMU picked up two straight for the 27-25 win. Pacific his .171 (17-10-41) in the third set.
 
In the critical fourth set, Pacific went on an early 6-0 run, moving a three-point deficit to a three-point edge, 12-9. The Lions eventually battled back to regain the lead, 21-20. The match was tied at 20, 21, 22 and 23, 24 and 25 before LMU put together back-to-back points for the 27-25 win. Pacific his .057 (12-10-35) in the set.
 
The fifth set was tied five times, the last time at eight. LMU finished with a 7-4 run for the 15-12 win. The Tigers his .211 (8-4-19) in the final set.  
 
The Tigers continue the Southern California road trip, headed to face San Diego (8-6, 4-0) at noon Saturday. The Toreros, who won the 2022 WCC title and made a run to the NCAA semifinals, started the season ranked 13^th in the country. San Diego has fallen out of the national rankings after a 4-6 non-conference record, even though the losses were to #9 Oregon, #10 Georgia Tech, #24 Tennessee, Hawaii, USC and Northwestern. The Toreros have wins over Boston College and Georgia, plus its first four WCC opponents including a 3-1 win over Santa Clara Thursday.