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QUICK HITS
◊ LMU fell out of the AVCA Top-25 rankings after playing last week at #25 in the rankings, but is receiving votes in the poll ... is picked to finish fourth according to the annual preseason coaches poll ... made its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year, including its third in the last four years (2012, 2014, 2015) ... went 24-9 overall last year, including 13-5 in the WCC to claim a share of third place in the conference standings ... reached the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history (1996) ... dropped the Sweet 16 match to Kansas (3-1) ... swept #6 Stanford to advance to the Sweet 16 - the highest-ranked opponent to ever fall to the Lions (previous: 3-2 at #9 Hawaii on 9/23/05) ... including last year, each of LMU's last three tournament runs started at Stanford ... was one of four WCC teams in the NCAA Tournament (LMU, BYU, USD, SCU), with BYU also reaching the Sweet 16 ... has recorded back-to-back 20+ win seasons for the first time since 1999-00 ... posted 10+ WCC wins in consecutive years for the first time since 1996-97 ... 24 victories were the most since recording 26 in 2003 ... third-place finish was the best for the Lions since finishing third in 2003 ... 13 WCC wins were the most since 1996 (14-0) ... is 299-155 (.659) at home since 1982.
◊ Tom Black served as an Assistant Coach with Team USA, helping the US to a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics ... worked directly with the setters with Team USA.
◊ Kristen Castellanos was named to the Pioneer Classic All-Tournament team after tournament at Denver.
◊ Jamie Lea was named preseason All-WCC.
◊ Tess Reid posted a double-double in five of her first six collegiate matches.
◊ Sarah Sponcil earned Pioneer Classic MVP after tournament at Denver ... garnered AVCA All-Region and honorable mention All-America honors last year ... listed on ESPNW's 2016 Top-12 Players to Watch list ... is a preseason All-WCC selection.
◊ Joe Trinsey served as an Assistant Coach with Team USA, helping the US to a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

THIS WEEK
LMU volleyball will once again hit the road this week, traveling to Dayton, Ohio for the Flyer Classic hosted by the University of Dayton ... LMU will open play at Dayton on Friday at 3 p.m. before playing neutral matches against Southern Illinois (7:30 a.m.) and Youngstown State (1 p.m.) on Saturday.

LION TRACKS
LMU went 2-1 last week serving as partial host of the LMU/Long Beach State Invitational ... the Lions opened tournament play on Thursday at Long Beach State, dropping a three-set match ... LMU then rebounded to post sweeps over Harvard on Friday and Duke on Saturday to close the weekend ... Sarah Sponcil collected 36 kills over the course of the three matches last week (4.00 per set), registering a .280 hitting percentage and making just 13 errors on 82 swings ... the native of Phoenix, Ariz. posted 21 digs (2.33 per set) while also managing three blocks.

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, who are 2-0 so far this year in neutral matches, went 4-1 in neutral matches last year after finishing 2014 with the same 4-1 record ... 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 124-59 (.678) in neutral contests since the 1983 season, including having posted perfect neutral records in eight of those 33 seasons ... over that span, LMU has had only five seasons with losing records in neutral matches.

READY FOR THE BRIGHT LIGHTS
The West Coast Conference unveiled its 2016 broadcast schedule for volleyball, and the Lions are scheduled to host a pair of ESPN televised matches ... LMU will welcome perennial power San Diego Tuesday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m., while defending WCC Champion and NCAA Sweet-16 participant BYU plays at LMU Tuesday, November 22 at 8:00 p.m ... LMU's match this week at Dayton will also air live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel Northeast Ohio.

ABOUT DAYTON
Dayton, which is receiving votes this year in the AVCA poll, enters the weekend tournament sporting an 11-0 record after most recently sweeping past IUPUI on Tuesday of this week ... Jessica Sloan leads the attack with 152 kills (4.00 per set), while Amber Erhahon has hit a blistering .487 with 127 kills (3.34 per set) on 224 swings with just 18 errors ... the Flyers are hitting .277 as a team receiving sets from Jane Emmenecker, who has managed 368 assists ... Sloan paces the team to 58 aces, posting 13 over 38 sets played ... Erhahon and Kendyll Brown are the team's leading blockers, collecting 36 and 33, respectively, to guide Dayton to 84 total blocks (2.21 per set) ... the Flyers are led by eighth-year head coach Tim Horsmon.

ABOUT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Southern Illinois enters the weekend sporting an 8-3 record after posting a victory over SEMO on Tuesday of this week ... Andrea Estrada leads the team on the attack registering 121 kills (3.30 per set) ... Meg Viggars sets the attack to a .231 hitting percentage, dishing out 250 assists ... Viggars also paces the team in aces with 14, two better than teammate Alex Rogisnol, helping Southern Illinois to 51 ... strong on the block, the Salukis have managed 103 total blocks (2.58 per set), led by Rosignol with 48 total blocks (1.23 per set) ... the Salukis are led by fifth-year head coach Justin Ingram.

ABOUT YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Youngstown State enters the weekend sporting a 6-5 overall record and carrying a four-match win streak after defeating Robert Morris on Tuesday ... the Penguins are led by Lori Vanbeek with 147 kills (3.50 per set) on 311 swings (.309) ... Val Jeffery sets the attack, posting 415 assists at a rate of 9.88 per set ... Jeffery also paces the squad with 20 aces, helping Youngstown State to 80 as a team ... the Penguins have managed 89 total blocks (2.12 per set), led by 48 from Vanbeek ... Youngstown State is led by fifth-year head coach Mark Hardaway.

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, who has continued in his head coaching duties at LMU while serving on the Team USA staff, helped guide the United States to a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics by way of a victory over Netherlands ... under his title with the National Team, Black's primary responsibility was working with the setters and the team offense.

GET OFF ON THE RIGHT PAW
The Lions have had a knack for coming out of the gates strong in recent memory, having won 17 of their last 20 season-openers, including a four-set win over Illinois State this year ... LMU did drop 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 six occasions.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
One of Southern California's premier athletic facilities, Albert Gersten Pavilion is in its 35th year as home of the Loyola Marymount volleyball in 2016 ... 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 ... since 1982, the Lions have posted an overall record of 299-155 (.659) in the friendly confines of the Pavilion ... LMU, which is 4-1 so far this year at home, went 10-4 at home in 2015 ... in conference play, the record is even more impressive with a 151-71 (.680) home record in WCC action ... in 34 years, the 1996 (WCC volleyball championship team and Sweet Sixteen participant) and 2003 (NCAA second round appearance) squads have been the most successful with 14-1 marks, for .933 winning percentages.

SURVEY SAYS
In a preseason poll of the Conference's 10 head coaches, LMU was selected to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference in 2016 ... after making its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament and 19th overall, San Diego was picked as the favorite to win the Championship ... the top three teams were separated by 11 votes, with 10 points separating the Toreros from the three-time defending WCC champion and 2015 NCAA Sweet-16 participant BYU ... Santa Clara, LMU, Pepperdine, Pacific, Portland, Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and San Francisco followed.

WATCH IT LIVE ONLINE
LMU Athletics will video stream all home volleyball matches this year through the LMU Sports Network and theW.tv ... the video stream is free of charge, and will be accompanied by an audio play-by-play broadcast ... to watch any and all home matches this year, please visit: lmulions.com/multimedia/LMUSportsNetwork-WVB.html

M-V-P...M-V-P...M-V-P
Junior Sarah Sponcil took home Pioneer Classic Tournament MVP at the University of Denver's tournament, earning a spot on the All-Tournament team alongside fellow junior, Kristen Castellanos ... over three matches at the tournament, Sponcil collected 45 kills (4.50 per set) with just 16 errors on 92 swings for a .315 hitting percentage ... she served up four aces, collected 27 digs (2.70 per set) and had five block assists ... the Preseason All-WCC selection also posted two double-doubles in helping LMU to go 2-1 at the tournament ... Castellanos finished the three matches with 32 digs, including 14 in the opener at Denver .. the Los Angeles, Calif. native averaged 3.20 digs per set while also dishing out 16 assists.

PICKED BEFORE THE SERVE
The West Coast Conference released its preseason All-WCC selections, and LMU's Sarah Sponcil and Jamie Lea were honored ... Six programs placed at least one student-athlete on the preseason squad, with Santa Clara leading the way with three selections ... Sponcil was named a 2015 AVCA All-Region and honorable mention All-American after taking home first team All-WCC honors ... she led the Lions in kills with 447 at a rate of 3.58 per set while notching a team-best 36 aces (0.29 per set) and 363 digs (2.90 per set) ... Lea, who managed double-digit kills in all but seven matches, appeared in 32 of LMU's 33 matches and collected 425 kills to finish second on the team in her first season as a Lion .. the native of Efland, N.C. averaged 3.57 kills per set while taking 1,113 swings and amassing eight block solos and 45 block assists to average 0.45 blocks per set.

WINS FOR THE AGES
LMU has managed a few streak-stopping victories over the last two-plus years, most notably defeating Stanford, BYU, UCLA, San Diego and Long Beach State ... the Lions' latest accomplishment was a road sweep at then-#6 Stanford on 12/4/15 to advance to the 2015 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 ... the victory over the Cardinal was the first in program history, as the Lions had previously gone 0-3 and never won a set ... Stanford was also the highest-ranked opponent to be fall to the Lions (previous: 3-2 at #9 Hawaii on 9/23/05) ... LMU posted a five-set victory over then-No. 12 BYU on 10/24/15, marking the first win over the Cougars in program history (1-11) ... 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 11-3 in favor of UCLA, as the Lions swept the Bruins for the second straight year on 8/30/15, but dropped a match to UCLA on 8/27 this year ... 2015's victory over UCLA 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 11 UCLA victories in the series have been sweeps ... the Lions also 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 ... 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.

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 (previous 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 ... last year, LMU was 4-2 against ranked opponents after beating #20 UCLA (8/30), #12 BYU (10/24), #13 Colorado State (12/3) and #6 Stanford (12/4) ... so far this year, the Lions are 0-1, dropping a four-setter to #12 UCLA on 8/27.

WCC WELL-REPRESENTED
For the second straight year, four West Coast Conference volleyball programs advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament ... No. 11 BYU, the 2015 WCC Regular-Season Champions, joined LMU, San Diego and Santa Clara for the second straight season as qualifiers ... BYU, which like the Lions reached the Sweet 16 in 2015, played for the National Championship in 2014 ... the four teams selected is the largest contingent of WCC programs to advance to the NCAA Tournament since 2012 when BYU, LMU, Pepperdine, Saint Mary's, San Diego and Santa Clara all qualified.

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.

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