2016 LMU VOLLEYBALL NOTES Gersten Pavilion | One LMU Drive | Los Angeles, CA 90045 | www.LMULions.com | @LMULions @LMU_Volleyball | WVB Contact: Tyler Geivett | tgeivett@lmu.edu | (310) 338-7638
LMU LIONS (11-5, 2-2 WCC) vs. PORTLAND PILOTS (9-7, 2-2 WCC) October 6, 2016 | Gersten Pavilion | Match 17 | Home 7
QUICK HITS ◊ LMU is currently outside of the AVCA Top-25 rankings after most recently playing the week of 9/5-9/11 at #25 in the rankings ... had at least received votes in every week this year leading up to this week … ranks sixth in the NCAA in assists/set (13.70), trailing only the national leader San Diego (14.45) in the WCC ... is 11th in NCAA in kills/set (14.46), with San Diego sitting as the nation's leader (15.36) ... has won the first set in 13 of 16 matches this year ... 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 ... also earned a spot on the Flyer Classic All-Tournament team in Dayton ... recorded fourth-most aces for single match in program history (6) vs. Niagara on 8/27 ... most since Betsi Metter had six vs. College of Charleston on 9/14/13 ... has posted double-digit digs in all but four matches this year. ◊ JAMIE LEA was named preseason All-WCC. ◊ TESS REID posted a double-double in five of her first six collegiate matches ... has managed at least one service ace in five of her last eight matches ... second on the team in double-doubles with six. ◊ SARAH SPONCIL earned Pioneer Classic MVP after tournament at Denver … also took home MVP at the Flyer Classic in Dayton before being named WCC Player of the Week for his efforts at that tournament ... garnered AVCA All-Region and honorable mention All-America honors last year … listed on ESPNW’s 2016 Top-12 Players to Watch list … leads the team with nine double-doubles ... is a preseason All-WCC selection ... double-digit kills in all but one match so far this year ... has led all players in kills in 10 of the first 16 matches, and has posted a team-high in kills in 12 of the 16. ◊ JOE TRINSEY served as an Assistant Coach with Team USA, helping the US to a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. ◊ KEKAI WHITFORD has recorded an ace in nine straight matches, including multiple aces in five of the nine. THIS WEEK LMU will look to get back on track this week after a 1-2 week last week that included a pair of five-set losses to San Diego and Pacific ... the Lions will host Portland and Gonzaga this week, welcoming the Pilots to Gersten Pavilion at 7 p.m. on Thursday before meeting the Bulldogs at Noon on Saturday ... following this week's action, LMU will travel to Santa Clara and San Francisco next week. LION TRACKS Lexi Elman connected for a match-high 26 kills on 59 swings to guide the Pacific volleyball team to a 22-25, 27-25, 25-18, 16-25, 15-9 five-set victory over LMU on Saturday ... the loss capped a 1-2 week that also included a five-set loss to then-#6 San Diego (LMU won the first two sets) and a four-set victory at Saint Mary's ... Sarah Sponcil led the attack for LMU against Pacific, connecting for 18 kills, teaming the mark with 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the year ... freshman Savannah Slattery posted 15 kills, but LMU was out-hit, .248-.224, in the setback ... freshman Jessie Prichard narrowly missed a double-double, combining 37 assists with nine digs ... in addition to Elman’s 26, Emily Baptista pitched in 10 kills and Ashlynn Fleming connected for eight while hitting .316 on 19 attacks ... the Tigers also received nine service aces, including three apiece from Baptista and Katrin Gotterba ... while aces certainly helped push Pacific to victory, the Tigers also managed 14 total team blocks, with Fleming recording three solos and six block assists ... LMU’s serving game also proved effective, with the Lions posting seven aces behind three from senior Nicky Kevorken. 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 0-2, dropping a four-setter to #12 UCLA on 8/27 and falling in five after taking a 2-0 lead over #6 San Diego on 9/27.
2016 SCHEDULE
OVERALL: 11-5 | WCC: 2-2 | H: 4-2 | A: 3-3 | N: 4-0 Date Day Opponent Time/Result LMU Invitational 8/26 Fri. Illinois State W, 3-1 8/27 Sat. Niagara W, 3-1 8/27 Sat. #12 UCLA L, 3-1 Pioneer Classic (University of Denver) 9/2 Fri. at Denver 9/3 Sat. vs. Utah State 9/3 Sat. vs. Montana State
L, 3-1 W, 3-0 W, 3-0
LMU/Long Beach State Dual Invitational 9/8 Thu. at Long Beach State 9/9 Fri. Harvard 9/10 Sat. Duke
L, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-0
Flyer Classic (University of Dayton) 9/16 Fri. at Dayton 9/17 Sat. vs. Southern Illinois 9/17 Sat. vs. Youngstown State
W, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-0
9/24 9/27 9/29 10/1 10/6 10/8 10/13 10/15 10/20 10/22 10/27 10/29 11/3 11/5 11/10 11/12 11/19 11/22
Sat. Tue. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Sat. Tue.
at Pepperdine * #6 San Diego * at Saint Mary’s * at Pacific * Portland * Gonzaga * at Santa Clara * at San Francisco * at San Diego * at BYU * Pacific * DiG PiNK Saint Mary’s * at Gonzaga * at Portland * San Francisco * Santa Clara * Pepperdine * BYU *
W, 3-0 L, 3-2 W, 3-1 L, 3-2 7:00 pm 12:00 pm 7:00 pm 1:00 pm 7:00 pm 12:00 pm 7:00 pm 12:00 pm 6:00 pm 12:00 pm 7:00 pm 12:00 pm 12:00 pm 8:00 pm
* - WCC Match | DiG PiNK - DiG PiNK Match
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2016 WCC STANDINGS
WCC OVERALL SCHOOL W L PCT W L PCT #5 San Diego 4 0 1.000 13 2 .867 Pacific 4 1 .800 10 7 .588 #13 BYU 3 1 .750 14 2 .875 Saint Mary's 3 2 .600 8 8 .500 LMU 2 2 .500 11 5 .688 Gonzaga 2 2 .500 9 5 .643 Portland 2 2 .500 9 7 .562 Pepperdine 1 3 .250 7 9 .438 Santa Clara 1 4 .200 10 7 .588 San Francisco 0 5 .000 4 14 .222
WCC PRESEASON POLL
NO. SCHOOL (1ST-PLACE VOTES) 1 San Diego (7) 2 BYU (1) 3 Santa Clara (2) 4 LMU 5 Pepperdine 6 Pacific 7 Portland 8 Saint Mary’s 9 Gonzaga 10 San Francisco
POINTS 78 68 67 59 48 43 35 27 25 14
AHEAD IN THE WCC
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 Saint Mary's at BYU Gonzaga at Pepperdine Pacific at San Diego
6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 Santa Clara at San Francisco
7:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 Pacific at BYU Saint Mary's at San Diego Portland at Pepperdine
12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.