Sept. 3, 2015 LOS ANGELES, Calif. -
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Tournament Central
LMU vs. Liberty â€" Friday, September 4 | 4 PM | Gersten Pavilion | Live Stats
LMU vs. Houston Baptist â€" Saturday, September 5 | 10 AM | Gersten Pavilion | Live Stats
LMU at Northern Arizona â€" Saturday, September 5 | 7 PM | Gersten Pavilion | Watch Live | Live Stats
QUICK HITS
◊ LMU made its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year, and it's second trip in the last three years (dropped the First Round match to Michigan State) ... finished 5th in the WCC (23-8 overall | 11-7 WCC) and was one of four WCC teams in the NCAA Tournament (LMU, BYU, USD, SCU) ... BYU played in the National Championship match ... had five players awarded with All-Conference honors last year, including three first-team selections (DeWitt, Keil, Tedrow) and two All-Freshman selections (Sponcil, Castellanos) ... the three first-team selections were the most since LMU earned three in 1996 ... earned a National Ranking last year for the first time since 2004 ... reached 20 wins for the first time since 2003 (26-7) ... began the year at 12-0, posting eight sweeps along the way before falling in five sets to Pacific on 9/25 ... 12-0 mark was the best record to start season in program history (previous: 10-0 | 2003) ... went 11-3 at home last year (.786), the best in terms of percentage since 2003 (.933) ... is 285-151 (.654) at home since 1982.
◊ Jamie Lea has led the Lions with 19 kills in each of the first two matches this year.
◊ Sarah Sponcil recorded a triple-double vs. Virginia on 8/28 (13 K | 28 A | 17 D) - the first for LMU since Heather Hughes had 19 K, 11 A, 11 D vs. Gonzaga on 11/1/07 ... was named a preseason All-WCC selection.
◊ Hannah Tedrow was named a preseason All-WCC selection.
THIS WEEK
The Lions will continue the 2015 season this week, traveling to Northern Arizona Univeristy for the Lumberjack Classic on Friday and Saturday ... LMU will open play on Friday with a match vs. Liberty at 4 pm before playing against Houston Baptist (10 am) and host Northern Arizona (7 pm) on Saturday ... a tournament central link, live stats for all three matches, and a video link for the match at NAU can be found at LMULions.com.
READY FOR THEIR CLOSE UP?
Saturday night's volleyball match at Northern Arizona will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Arizona PLUS and FOX College Sports Pacific ... the match will then be aired on tape delay starting at 8 pm on FOX Sports Prime Ticket.
U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!
After completing his third year serving as LMU head volleyball coach in 2012, Tom Black accepted an assistant coach position under head coach Karch Kiraly with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team ... Black will continue in his head coaching duties at LMU this year while serving on the Team USA staff ... Black, who is currently coaching the team at the FIVB World Cup in Japan, recently helped guide the Americans past five nations, all ranked in the top seven in the world, in five days, securing the sixth Grand Prix crown for the United States ... Russia took the silver and Brazil earned the bronze medal ... under his title with the National Team, Black's primary responsibility is working with the setters and the team offense ... working directly under his instruction, Molly Kreklow was named "Best setter" of Grand Prix … to follow Tom and Team USA, please visit teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball.
ABOUT LIBERTY
Liberty enters the Lumberjack Classic sporting a 3-0 overall record after posting victories over UNCG, Fairleigh Dickinson and Hampton ... Jade Vorster and Gabrielle Vess have led the way on the attack so far, registering 26 and 24 kills, respectively ... Vorster has hit .420 (26-5/50), while Vess is averaging 3.43 kills per set ... the Lady Flames are hitting .271 as a team receiving sets from Anna Willey (100 assists) ... Vorster also leads the team on the block, collecting 10 block assists to help the Lady Flames to 22 team blocks ... Susan Babcock leads the way on the serve, posting five aces over six sets played ... Liberty is led by 12th-year head coach Shane Pinder.
ABOUT HOUSTON BAPTIST
Houston Baptist enters the Lumberjack Classic sporting a 4-0 overall record after posting victories over Alcorn State, UT Rio Grande Valley, Louisiana Tech and Prairie View A&M ... Jessica Wooten and Bailey Banks have led the way on the attack so far, registering 44 and 36 kills, respectively ... Wooten is averaging 3.67 kills per set while hitting .378 (44-10/90) over the four matches ... the Huskies are hitting .328 as a team receiving sets from Kayla Armer (133 assists) ... Wooten has also proven to be a stellar server, collecting 12 aces at a rate of 1.00 per set ... Houston Baptist as a team has managed 25 total blocks. led by Blair Gillard with 11 block assists ... Houston Baptist is led by fourth-year head coach Trent Herman.
ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA
Northern Arizona prepares to host the Lumberjack Classic sporting a 2-1 overall record after posting sweeps over Lehigh and St. Francis Brooklyn and falling in five sets to James Madison ... Janae Vander Ploeg and Lauren Jacobsen earned All-Tournament honors in the opening weeked tournament at James Madison, as Vander Ploeg led all players with 50 kills (4.55 kills per set) while hitting .315 (50-10/127) ... Jacobsen was second on the team in kills with 43 (3.91 per set) ... Vander Ploeg has served up six aces to help the Lumberjacks to 17 on the season ... NAU is hitting .274 as a team receiving sets from Jordan Leiter (111 assists) ... strong on the block, Northern Arizona has amassed 30 team blocks, led by three solos and 12 assists from Payton Bock ... Northern Arizona is led by third-year head coach Ken Murphy.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
One of Southern California's premier athletic facilities, Albert Gersten Pavilion is in its 34th year as home of the Loyola Marymount volleyball in 2015 ... since opening night, the Pavilion has become one of toughest places to play in the West Coast Conference ... the volleyball Lions first moved into the facility in 1982, and recorded 14 wins in Gersten's inaugural season ... LMU went 11-3 at home last year, the best home mark since starting 11-3 in 2004 ... since 1982, the Lions have posted an overall record of 285-151 (.654) in the friendly confines of the Pavilion ... in conference play, the record is even more impressive with a 145-69 (.678) home record in WCC action ... in 32 years, the 1996 (WCC volleyball championship team and Sweet Sixteen participant) and 2003 (NCAA second round ap- pearance) squads have been the most successful with 14-1 marks, for .933 winning percentages.
PICKED BEFORE THE SERVE
The West Coast Conference released its preseason All-WCC selections, and LMU's Hannah Tedrow and Sarah Sponcil were honored ... BYU led the way with three preseason selections, while LMU and Santa Clara each collected a pair ... serving as LMU's setter last year, Tedrow registered 1,304 total assists (11.54/set) en route to being named AVCA Pacific South All-Region and an honorable mention All-American ... LMU's team-leader in double-doubles with eight, Tedrow amassed 22 service aces, 248 digs and 83 total blocks, including six block solos .. the native of Foothill Ranch, Calif. garnered first team All-WCC honors, and posted 30+ assists in all but two matches last season ... Sponcil, who was named AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year, emerged as a force on the attack in her first season, collecting 344 kills at a rate of 3.04 per set ... the Phoenix, Ariz. native teamed the kills with 14 aces and 272 digs, with the latter placing second on the team ... the WCC All-Freshman team selection finished second on the team in double-doubles with seven.
GET OFF ON THE RIGHT PAW
The Lions have had a knack for coming out of the gates strong in recent memory, having won 16 of their last 19 season-openers, but they dropped a four-set match to Virginia to start the 2015 campaign ... the only other losses over that span came in 2007 to St. John's and then-No. 10 USC in 2010 ... LMU has recorded 10 sweeps and won in four sets on five occasions.
IT'S JUST A NUMBER
With a victory over No. 24 Pepperdine on November 8, 2012, LMU snapped a streak of 36 straight losses to ranked opponents (last victory: 10/5/06 at #12 Santa Clara) ... LMU finished that year 1-5 against ranked foes before going 0-4 in such matches in 2013 ... the 2014 season went much better when the Lions were pit against Top-25 squads, as LMU went 2-2 on the year ... so far this season, LMU is 1-0 after sweeping then-No. 20 UCLA on the road on 8/30.
TOP OF THE CLASS
LMU's newest group of freshmen volleyball players was tabbed Highest Honorable Mention according to PrepVolleyball.com prior to the 2015 season ... the Lions, who garnered Highest Honorable Mention honors in PrepVolleyball's recruiting rankings entering the 2011 and 2012 seasons, had the 24th-best class in 2014 ... in order to determine the top recruiting classes, PrepVolleyball.com petitions a panel of college coaches from across the country to develop the list.
SURVEY SAYS
In a preseason poll of the Conference's 10 head coaches, LMU was selected to finish fifth in the West Coast Conference in 2015 ... after a record-setting march to the 2014 NCAA National Championship match, BYU was picked as the unanimous favorite to win the Championship ... the top three teams were separated by 19 votes, with 10 points separating the two-time defending WCC champion Cougars from Santa Clara.
LMU VOLLEYBALL ON TWITTER
For fans, parents and players interested in following LMU volleyball even closer this year, LMU volleyball will be tweeting under the handle @LMU_Volleyball ... to get the inside look at LMU volleyball, make sure to follow @LMU_Volleyball on Twitter.
LET'S SETTLE THIS ON NEUTRAL GROUND
LMU has historically been extremely impressive in matches played at neutral sites, in which neither team is playing on their home court ... the Lions finished last year 4-1 in neutral matches ... LMU was 1-1 in neutral contests in 2013 after finishing 2-3 in 2012 … 2011 saw the Lions go 4-2 in neutral matches, while they were 6-2 in 2010 ... overall, LMU is 118-58 (.670) in neutral contests since the 1983 season, including having posted perfect neutral records in eight of those 32 seasons ... over that span, LMU has had only five seasons with losing records in neutral matches … the last 14 years have seen LMU go 44-15 (.746) in neutral contests…
WINS FOR THE AGES
LMU managed a few streak-stopping victories last year, most notably defeating UCLA, San Diego and Long Beach State ... prior to LMU's sweep of UCLA on 8/30/14, the Bruins had won seven straight matches over the Lions ... the all-time series now stands at 10-3 in favor of UCLA, as the Lions swept the Bruins for the second straight year on 8/30 in match two of the season ... this year's victory came on the road, and was the first on the road for LMU at UCLA since December 4, 1986 (3-2) while playing in the NCAA Tournament ... eight of the 10 UCLA victories in the series have been sweeps ... the Lions then recorded a victory over Long Beach State on 9/11/14, snapping a seven-match skid for the Lions against the 49ers ... the last Lion victory over LBSU came on 9/10/94 ... the road victory for LMU was also the first over Long Beach State since 11/17/87 ... perhaps the biggest win of last year, LMU swept then-No. 23 San Diego on 9/30/14 ... that victory snapped a 16-match losing streak to the Toreros (last victory: 10/28/05) ... LMU was just 6-26 over the previous 32 matches against USD ... the sweep of USD was also the first for the Lions since 11/18/95.
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