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QUICK HITS
◊ LMU enters the week ranked #25 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, down five spots from last week … 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 297-155 (.657) 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 last week in Denver.
◊ Jamie Lea was named preseason All-WCC.
◊ Tess Reid has posted a double-double in five of her first six collegiate matches.
◊ Sarah Sponcil earned Pioneer Classic MVP last week in 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, ranked 25th headed into this week, will return to Southern California for three matches this week, traveling to Long Beach State on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match before hosting Harvard (Friday, 7 p.m.) and Duke (Saturday, 4:00 p.m.) in Gersten Pavilion.

PROMOTIONS THIS WEEKEND
On Friday, the Lions take on Harvard at 7 p.m., and be one of the first 250 in attendance to receive the 2015 NCAA Sweet 16 Commemorative Drinking Stein … this limited edition item helps celebrate this Lions success of last year … on Saturday, join the Lions late Saturday afternoon for a special match-up with Duke … this is the Lions Athletic Fund Classic, and tickets will be sold for this special showdown between the ACC and WCC … tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children/seniors … all ticket sales will go to support LMU women's volleyball and their pursuit of championships through their Lions Athletic Fund … Saturday's game is also Summer Camper Reunion Day and the Little Lions Club Day … all summer campers from LMU Summer Camps get into the game free and can sign-up for the Little Lions Club, a $20 value for free … there will be the Little Lions Club Lions Den, a special kids zone complete with a bounce house, games and free giveaways.

LION TRACKS
LMU finished 2-1 at the 2016 Pioneer Classic hosted by Denver last weekend … the Lions dropped the first road match of the year, 3-1, to Denver to open play before knocking off Utah State and Montana State in sweeps to close play … at the conclusion of play, junior Sarah Sponcil was tabbed Tournament MVP.

M-V-P…M-V-P…M-V-P
Junior Sarah Sponcil took home Pioneer Classic Tournament MVP last weekend, 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.

ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
Long Beach State enters the week sporting a 2-3 record after splitting a pair of matches against California and Washington State last weekend … the 49ers beat Cal, 3-1, on Friday before suffering a sweep at the hands of Washington State on Saturday … Nele Barber leads the attack with 54 kills, while a trio of players sit second with 37 … included in those three is YiZhi Zue, who is hitting .468 while leading the squad in blocks with 15 (.88 per set) … Missy Owens sets the attack, dishing out 168 assists (10.50 per set) … Owens is also tied for the team lead in aces with six, helping LBSU to 23 as a team … the 49ers are led by 32nd-year head coach Brian Gimmillaro.

ABOUT HARVARD
Harvard enters the week sporting a 1-1 record after beating Siena on Friday of last week and falling to Georgia on Saturday … Corinne Bain and Jocelyn Meyer each had 13 kills over the two matches played … Bain is also the team's setter, dishing out 46 assists, while leading the team with two aces … Meyer paces the squad on the block, totaling a block solo and eight block assists … the Crimson is led by 24th-year head coach Jennifer Weiss.

ABOUT DUKE
Duke enters the week sporting a 3-2 overall record after dropping matches to #12 North Carolina and TCU last week … the Blue Devils dropped the match to North Carolina in four sets before falling in five to the Horned Frogs … Jordan Tucker leads the team on the attack with 61 kills (3.05 per set), while Anna Kropf has managed 57 (2.85) … the Blue Devils are hitting .211 as a team receiving sets from Cindy Marina (195 assists â€" 9.75 per set) … Duke has served up 28 aces, led by eight from Jamie Stivers … Tucker is also the team's leading blocker, registering 17 block assists (.85 per set) … the Blue Devils are led by 17th-year head coach Jolene Nagel.

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.

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.

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 297-155 (.657) in the friendly confines of the Pavilion, including going 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

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.

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.

Support LMU's 22 intercollegiate teams and it's student-athletes through scholarships and team support by joining the Lions Athletics Fund. Your help will make LMU #LIONSTRONG.