Nov. 2, 2001

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

This Week
After taking care of Cal State Fullerton for their fifth consecutive win on Tuesday in four games, the Loyola Marymount University women's volleyball team, 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the WCC, return to Gersten Pavilion for a showdown with the 13th ranked Pepperdine Waves in a classic West Coast Conference match between the two rivals. In the 2000 season the two teams split the two game series, both winning on the road. The Waves are perfect at home (11-0) and are 16-3 overall and 9-0 in conference.

Recent Action
The Lions have cruised to five straight wins, defeating Gonzaga and Portland last week in three-game sweeps and then defeating Cal State Fullerton 3-1 (30-28, 30-19, 23-30, 30-22). In the win against the Titans, five players recorded double digit kills, led by Kristen Gallup's 23. Freshman Dina Debernardi and sophomore Kealani Kimball had 12, junior Laura Gustorf had 11 and freshman Jody Carlson had 10.

All Around Weekend
Sophomore Kealani Kimball took over for the Lions in their two-match conference sweep last weekend over Portland and Gonzaga. The Hawaii native had 26 kills and a .468 hitting percentage in the two matches. In addition she tied a career high with four aces against Gonzaga. She led the team in kills both nights, getting 11 against the Zags and 15 against the Pilots. She also had 21 digs and three solo blocks. She continued her hot play with a solid 12-kill, 11-dig performance against Cal State Fullerton. Kimball has recorded three straight double-doubles and moved her career mark to 10.

Gallup...A Consistent Contributor
Junior Kristen Gallup has an example of consistency this season. The 6-foot-2 native of Mission Viejo, Calif., has been putting up identical 20-kill and 10-digs type performances throughout the season and did it against Cal State Fullerton. She had 23 kills, to lead the Lions, and 12 digs to give her 12th double-double on the season. She earned her 11th double-double of the season with a 14-kill, 13-dig performance against Portland last weekend. She leads the Lions and is tops in the conference with a 4.88 kill per game average, earning 366 on the season.

Streaking
The Lions find themselves on a roll. After being swept at home in a two game set against Santa Clara and San Francisco, the first time since Steve Stratos has become head coach in 1990 the Lions have been swept in a conference home stand weekend, the Lions have rattled off five straight victories, the last coming to San Francisco on Oct. 13. It is the longest win streak since the Lions started seven straight wins to start the 2000 season.

Oehlman Moves To Fifth On Career Assists Chart
Setter Nicole Oehlman has already made it into the LMU career record book for assists in just her second season as a Lion. Oehlman finished her rookie campaign with 1,287 assists which would have placed her seventh all-time if not for the two-season minimum for career marks. Add to that the 895 assists she has racked up this year and it moves her to fifth all-time with 2,182 career assists. The 110 assists she picked up over against San Diego and Saint Mary's two weeks ago pushed her past Andrea Fort and among the top five in LMU history. She has netted 140 more in the last three games for the Lions, putting her just 100 behind Anita Irwin for fourth place all-time. Here is where Oehlman ranks among LMU's best:

All-Time Lion Assist Leaders
1. Tracy Holman (1994-97) - 5,362
2. Robin Ortgiesen (1991-94) - 4,323
3. Jeannette Hecker (1996-99) - 2,416
4. Anita Irwin (1987-90) - 2,282
5. Nicole Oehlman (2000- ) - 2,182
6. Andrea Fort (1983-86) - 2,041
7. Seham Khalaf (1985-88) - 1,463
8. Loren Newman (1987-90) - 752
9. Kelly Ward (1998-00) - 474
10. Suzanne Radcliffe (1993-96) - 400

Lions In The Rankings
After falling out of the rankings weeks ago, the Lions have yet to climb back in. LMU began the 2001 season ranked No. 24 in the USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 poll.

Stratos Update
Head coach Steve Stratos is entering his 12th year at the helm of the Loyola Marymount women's volleyball program. In 11 seasons at LMU, Stratos has led the Lions to eight 20-win seasons and eight postseason appearances, including four consecutive in the NCAA Championships. Including the Lions record in 2001, Stratos has posted a career total of 245-108, for a .694 winning percentage, the highest in LMU volleyball history and second among current WCC coaches. In West Coast Conference action, he owns a record of 124-39, for a .760 winning percentage. With 122 career conference victories, Stratos ranks second among current WCC coaches.

Injury Update
The 2001 Lions will be without the services of outside hitter Jaimee Brubacher and setter Kelly Ward this season. Brubacher's volleyball career has come to an unfortunate end due to suffering from severe shin splints with compartment syndrome. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native ended her career with 389 kills and 463 digs. Ward, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., will no longer compete due to a back injury. Both Brubacher and Ward will remain a part of the LMU volleyball team supporting the squad and coaches in administrative roles.

Weekend Recap:
at Cal State Fullerton - Oct. 30
Junior Kristen Gallup, one of five Lions who reached double figures in kills, had a match-high 23 to pace LMU to a 30-28, 30-19, 23-30, 30-22 win over Cal State Fullerton in a nonconference women's volleyball match at Titan Gym Oct. 30. The Titans were the early aggressors, staking out an 18-9 lead in the first game. But LMU, which led only five times in the game, made the most of its late efforts, breaking a 28-28 tie with a service ace by freshman Jody Carlson and winning on an attack error by the Titans' Be Holcombe. The Titans grabbed the first point of game two, but LMU immediately scored a pair of points to take the lead and never trailed the rest of the game. Freshman Dina DeBernardi had a game-high five kills for the Lions. Fullerton finally found the winning column in game three, jumping out a 4-0 lead and never trailing the rest of the way. The Titans held the Lions to a .115 attack percentage in the game, by far their lowest of the match, while hitting .239, their best effort of the match. The Lions led for all of game five and were never threatened down the stretch. Junior Laura Gustorf, sophomore Kealani Kimball, Carlson and DeBernardi all reached double figures in kills for the Lions and Nicole Oehlman had 57 assists.

vs. Portland - Oct. 27
Thanks to the hot hand of sophomore Kealani Kimball and her team-high 15 kills, LMU team extended their winning streak to four matches with a 3-0 victory over Portland. Kimball finished the game with 11 digs, giving her 26 kills and 21 digs in the Lions' two wins this weekend. She finished hitting .468 to help the Lions win their fourth in a row and improve to 12-7 overall and 6-3 in the WCC. The Lions made it look easy in the first two games, taking both game one and game two 30-22. However, game three was a marathon with neither team taking a two-point lead until the very end of the game. The game was tied 20 times and Portland finally seemed to take advantage when they took a two-point advantage at 26-24. Freshman Dina Debernardi took over the game at that point, scoring the Lions next four points on kills to give them their first two-point lead of the game at 28-26. Debernardi finished with 12 kills on a hitting percentage of .385. The Pilots were not finished, as they took the next three points and were serving for the game at 29-28. Kimball put down her final kill of the game to give the Lions back the serve and tie the game at 29-29. After two hitting errors by the Pilots (4-14, 1-8), the Lions had won the game 31-29 and the match.

vs. Portland - Oct. 27
LMU defeated Gonzaga University 3-0 (30-24, 30-21, 30-24) in a West Coast Conference match on Friday. In all three games both teams traded points early in the rally scoring format, but the Lions would put the game late to improve to 11-7 on the season and 5-3 in conference play. Gonzaga falls to 6-12 and 3-5 in the WCC. Leading the way for the Lions was sophomore Kealani Kimball. The Kaunakakai, HI, native finished matching a career high with four aces. She also led the Lions with 11 kills and added 10 digs. Kimball was the hero in game one, putting together five digs, two blocks and three kills. The Lions trailed early in game one, 8-7 as the Bulldogs Zuzana Tumova put down five kills. However, Kimball's block would tie the score and the Lions wouldn't trail again. Sophomore Nicole Oehlman closed out the game with her third kill, giving the Lions the 30-24 win. Once again Gonzaga would take an early lead in game two, 3-1. Gonzaga's Abby Cullen had ix kills in the game, but it wasn't enough as the Lions would take their first lead at 7-6 and never look back in the 30-21 win. Kimball would tie her own service ace record with her fourth of the game with the Lions leading 21-13. Game three was a back and forth battle, as both teams would go down a point only to fight back and take a lead of their own. The Lions once again trailed early, 6-9 and then 8-12, but battled back to tie the game at 12-12. From that point the lead would change hands four times and be tied eight times. The Lions would take the lead for good at 25-24 and Gonzaga would not score again, as LMU would take the game and the match, 30-24. Joining Kimball on the attack was junior Kristen Gallup and freshman Jody Carlson with nine kills. Oehlman finished the game with seven kills and 35 assists. Her hitting percentage was stellar, finishing at .636 (7k, 0e, 11a). As a team, the Lions finished hitting .314 (49-11-121).

Wave Rave
The Pepperdine Waves enter Saturday's match leading the West Coast Conference with a 9-0 record and are 16-3 on the season. They are coming off a 3-1 win over UCLA on Tuesday night and have moved to a No. 13 ranking nationally. This will be the 46th all-time meeting between the two rivals. Pepperdine leads the series 31-14 and defeated the Lions in four games on Oct. 6 in Malibu. Sophomore outside hitter Katie Walkins leads the WCC in kills-per game at 4.90, just a head of the Lions' Gallup. Middle blocker Stacy Rouwenhorst ranks second with a .357 hitting percentage.