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 (14-6, 5-3 WCC) at #5 SAN DIEGO TOREROS (17-2, 8-0 WCC) October 20, 2016 | Jenny Craig Pavilion | Match 21 | Away 9
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 each of the first six polls this year … ranks seventh in the NCAA in assists/set (13.62), trailing only the national leader San Diego (14.09) in the WCC ... is 13th in NCAA and second in the WCC in kills/set (14.31), with San Diego sitting as the nation's leader (15.00) ... has won the first set in 17 of 20 matches this year ... is 0-3 in five-set matches ... 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 300-157 (.656) 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 six 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 12 double-doubles ... is a preseason All-WCC selection ... double-digit kills in all but two matches so far this year ... has led all players in kills in 11 of the first 20 matches, and has posted a team-high in kills in 13 of the 20. ◊ 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 11 of the last 13 matches, including multiple aces in six of the 13. THIS WEEK Having won three of its last four matches in WCC play, LMU will play a crucial pair of road matches this week, traveling to first place and #5 San Diego on Thursday before visiting #16 BYU on Saturday ... the Lions will look to avenge a 9/27 home loss to the Toreros in which the Lions won the first two sets only to have USD win in five ... the match at USD is scheduled for 7 p.m., while the first of two scheduled matches against the Cougars will begin serve at Noon on Saturday ... following this week's action, LMU will return home to host Pacific and Saint Mary's next week. LION TRACKS Sarah Sponcil posted a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs while hitting .438 as LMU cruised to a 25-21, 25-10, 25-14 sweep over San Francisco on the road at War Memorial Gym on Saturday afternoon ... the double-double was Sponcil’s 12th of the year ... Sponcil, who also served up two aces and notched a pair of blocks, recorded seven kills in the first set and six more in the third ... the Lions as a team hit .302, with Sascha Dominique posting six kills on 10 swings with just one error for a .500 clip ... freshman Jessie Prichard once again excelled from the setter position, dishing out 33 assists and serving up a trio of aces to help LMU to eight as a team ... junior Kristen Castellanos also posted three aces, running her season total to 16 ... LMU hit .381 in the second set before closing out the Dons with a .385 clip in the finale. 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: 14-6 | WCC: 5-3 | H: 5-3 | A: 5-3 | 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 #5 San Diego * at #16 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 W, 3-0 L, 3-2 W, 3-0 W, 3-0 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 8 0 1.000 17 2 .895 #16 BYU 6 2 .750 17 3 .850 LMU 5 3 .625 14 6 .700 Pacific 5 3 .625 11 9 .550 Gonzaga 4 4 .500 11 7 .611 Portland 4 4 .500 11 9 .550 Santa Clara 3 5 .375 12 8 .600 Saint Mary's 3 5 .375 8 11 .421 Pepperdine 2 6 .250 8 12 .400 San Francisco 0 8 .000 4 17 .190
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 20 Pepperdine at BYU LMU at San Diego Santa Clara at Pacific San Francisco at Saint Mary's SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 Pepperdine at San Diego San Francisco at Pacific LMU at BYU Portland at Gonzaga Santa Clara at Saint Mary's
6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.