SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco volleyball team got off to a hot start Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Gym, but could not retain momentum as Loyola Marymount eased to a four-set victory.

The Dons were led by 13 kills from senior Valentina Zaloznik, the only USF player to break into double-digits offensively. Kiara McKibben and Jurja Vlasic shared setting duties during the afternoon foray, finishing with 20 and 15 assists, respectively. For Vlasic, the return to the court in this weekend's pair of matches followed over a month on the sidelines due to injury. Wearing the gold jersey after one match on the sidelines, freshman Kim Gutierrez netted a team-high 21 digs.

Unlike the early season meeting between the Dons and the Lions in Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount dominated on the block, finishing with a 14.5 to 5 advantage, and held USF's offense to .102 hitting on the day.

"Regardless of who is healthy and who is injured, we've got to play more inspired," said head coach Gilad Doron. "We still have more matches to play this season and we need people to step up and finish strong."

With the defeat, USF falls to 12-16 (5-11 West Coast Conference) while Loyola Marymount continues to inch up the WCC leaderboard sporting a 22-5 (11-5 WCC) mark on the season.

Helped by solid defense and  a 7-3 mid-set run, USF pulled ahead 20-13 in the first set. Stalled on 20, the Lions took advantage with a seven-point run of its own to know the score at 20 apiece after Caitlin DeWitt and Rachelle Suaava combined for back-to-back blocks followed by and third stuff from Suaava and Amber Mirabelo. After a USF timeout, The Dons kept their composure and regained the lead on Emily Reed's strike with the assist from Vlasic. Three points later, Reed again pounded the ball for the point to give the Dons a 25-23 victory in the frame.

 Unable to consistently string together points in the remaining three sets, the Dons would go on to lose the next three sets, 25-12, 25-15, 25-13. In each frame, the Lions used early-set runs to grow a sizeable lead and put the game out of reach for USF.

Loyola Marymount was paced by a trio on the floor, led by Litara Keil's 15 kills on .481 hitting and six blocks. Five women notched at least five blocks in the contest as the front line was nearly impenetrable to USF attack.

Next, the Dons head to Santa Clara for its final road test of the season, facing off with the Broncos Thursday at 6 p.m.