March 27, 2014
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LOS ANGELES -The final regular season home games for seniors Kiara Cerda, Alexandra Honny, Erin Manke and Kassandra Smith will also be key within the Golden Coast Conference play. The Lions will host their final two home games of the regular season on Friday and Saturday, taking on GCC foes Pacific and Santa Clara.
LMU Sports Network will broadcast live both conference games. It is the first time water polo will have its games broadcast. The Lions host the Tigers on Friday at 4 pm, followed by the Broncos on Saturday at 12 noon.
In addition to being key conference showdowns, the games will be the final regular season home games in the careers of the four seniors. All four have been key in the Lions' success over the years, combining to play 370 games heading into the weekend.
To preview the weekend's action, LMU Sports Network sat down with the four seniors to talk about their careers, their time together, what it has meant to play water polo at LMU and what their next step is after LMU.
The Lions enter the weekend at 15-9 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Pacific is 11-11 at 1-0 in the GCC, while Santa Clara is 9-9 and will open conference play this weekend.
Ranked 11th nationally, the Lions are led by Honny, who has 58 goals to lead the GCC this season. She enters the weekend with 265 goals in her career, second all-time in LMU history. She is second on the team in assists with 25 and leads the team and the conference in steals with 52. Her 108 assists is third in school history while her 241 steals is second. She will play in her 125th and 126th game this weekend.
Joining her in the career rankings is fifth-year senior Manke. She leads the team this season with 35 assists, giving her an LMU record 171. She is also tied for seventh with 140 goals and 13th with 124 steals. For Manke, this will be her 110th and 111th game as a Lion.
This weekend will mark the 81st and 82nd game for Cerda, who was an NCAA Elite 89 Award winner in 2012. For Smith, it will be games 58 and 59.
While these are the final two regular season home games for the Lions, they will get to host the inaugural GCC Championships at the Burns Aquatics Center, Thursday-Saturday, April 24-26. For tickets, visit LMULions.com/Tickets. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children/seniors per day.
