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 (24-8) | #9 KANSAS (28-2) | #2 USC (32-2) | CREIGHTON (27-8)
NCAA Tournament 3rd/4th Rounds | December 11-12, 2015 | San Diego, Calif. | University of San Diego QUICK HITS ◊ LMU is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including its third in the last four years (2012, 2014) ... has reached the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history (1996) ... has never reached the Elite Eight ... 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) ... is 7-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches (last win prior to this year was 12/5/03 vs. Cal State Northridge) ... will open the San Diego Regional with a match against #9 Kansas on Friday at 5:30 pm ... live stats and video for the match can be found at LMULions.com ... including this year, each of LMU’s last three tournament runs have started at Stanford ... was one of four WCC teams in the NCAA Tournament (LMU, BYU, USD, SCU), with BYU also reaching the Sweet 16 ... snapped a three-match losing streak with a victory over Saint Mary’s on 10/3 ... has now won 15 of its last 17 matches, including five straight ... had three players awarded All-Conference honors, including two first-teamers (Sponcil and Tedrow) and one honorable mention (Suaava) ... Sponcil was also named AVCA All-Region, while Tedrow and Suaava earned honorable mention accolades ... owned an RPI of 27 entering the NCAA Tournament ... 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 ... has gone 24-8 overall this year, including 13-5 in the WCC to claim a share of third place in the conference standings ... 24 victories are the most since recording 26 in 2003 ... third-place finish is the best for the Lions since finishing third in 2003 ... 13 WCC wins are the most since 1996 (14-0) ... is ranked 17th in the nation (2nd in WCC) in assists/per set (13.40) and 21st in the nation (1st in WCC) in kills (1,720) ... has played 10 five-set matches this year (7-3 record) after playing six such matches last season ... has been swept just twice this year (10/22 vs. USD & 11/12 at Santa Clara) ... has won 25 of 32 first sets this year (19-6 in those matches), but is 5-2 when the opponent wins the first set ... earned a National Ranking last year for the first time since 2004 ... is 295-154 (.657) at home since 1982. ◊ TOM BLACK collected win #100 as head coach at LMU with a five-set victory over Saint Mary’s on 10/29 ... now owns 108. ◊ JAMIE LEA has managed double-digit kills in all but seven matches this year ... collected 25 kills against Santa Clara on 10/17 - the most for a Lion since 2012 (Kat Luft) ... is averaging a team-best 3.60 kills per set (8th in WCC). ◊ SARAH SPONCIL was named first team All-WCC and AVCA All-Region ... WCC Player of the Week on 11/2 (guided LMU to a 2-0 week | averaged 4.25 kills per set (34 total) while hitting .400) ... had 15 kills and hit .444 against #6 Stanford ... Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament ... 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 ... has managed at least a double-double in all but 14 matches this year ... is hitting .274 while leading the team in kills with 434 ... preseason All-WCC selection ... averaging 3.59 kills per set (9th in WCC). ◊ RACHELLE SUAAVA was named honorable mention All-WCC and honorable mention AVCA All-Region ... Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament ... is hitting .276 (363-148/780) with a team-best 135 block assists and 9 block solos (1.19 per set) ... ranks 2nd in WCC in total blocks (144) and 5th in blocks per set ... is one block assist away from matching the LMU single-season record set by Kelli Nerison in 2004 (136). ◊ HANNAH TEDROW was named first team All-WCC and honorable mention AVCA All-Region ... took home WCC Player of the Week on 10/19 (guided LMU to a 2-0 week | averaged 14.62 assists per set) ... posted 77 assists against Santa Clara on 10/17 - tied for sixth-most in LMU history for a single match, and the most since 2005 ... is averaging 11.73 assists per set (1st in WCC | 10th in nation) ... was named a preseason All-WCC selection ... has amassed 1,396 assists this year - one short of moving into the top-five at LMU for a single season. ◊ KEKAI WHITFORD was named Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament. THIS WEEK The 2015 NCAA Tournament continues this week, as the Lions will head to San Diego and the Jenny Craig Pavilion looking to make program history with its first berth into the Elite Eight ... playing in the Sweet Sixteen for the second time in program history (1996), LMU draws a third-round match against #9 Kansas on Friday at 5:30 pm PT ... joining the Lions and Jayhawks in the four-team regional will be top-seed #2 USC and Creighton ... live stats and video links for Friday’s match can be found at LMULions.com ... should the Lions advance, they would play the winner of USC and Creighton on Saturday at 8 pm PT. Friday, December 11 | Sweet Sixteen (Third Round) LMU vs. #9 Kansas | 5:30 pm | Jenny Craig Pavilion | Live Video on ESPN3 (Link at LMULions.com) #2 USC vs. Creighton | 8 pm | Jenny Craig Pavilion | Live Video on ESPNU Saturday, December 12 | Elite Eight (Fourth Round) Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 | 8 pm | Jenny Craig Pavilion | Live Video on ESPNU LION TRACKS LMU won its first NCAA Tournament match since 2003 last week, defeating #13 Colorado State in the first round of the Championship Tournament ... while that victory was big, LMU quickly one-upped itself one day later, sweeping #6 Stanford at Maples Pavilion to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and the San Diego Regional this week ... sophomore Sarah Sponcil had a combined 24 kills and 19 digs in the two matches, hitting .346 over the span ... Sponcil also added four aces to help guide LMU to 13 against the ranked foes ... the Lions did extremely well in digging Colorado State and Stanford’s solid attack, registering 93 total digs at a rate of 13.29 per set ... LMU has now posted road sweeps at #6 Stanford, UCLA and San Diego - all three NCAA Tournament qualifiers ... the Sweet Sixteen berth matches the farthest run into the NCAA Tournament for an LMU volleyball team (1996) ...
2015 WCC STANDINGS
WCC OVERALL SCHOOL W L PCT W L PCT #11 BYU ! 16 2 .889 28 3 .903 San Diego ! 14 4 .778 22 10 .688 LMU ! 13 5 .722 24 8 .750 Santa Clara ! 13 5 .722 22 9 .710 Pacific 8 10 .444 17 13 .567 Pepperdine 8 10 .444 17 14 .548 Gonzaga 7 11 .389 16 15 .516 Portland 6 12 .333 16 15 .516 San Francisco 4 14 .222 17 14 .548 Saint Mary’s 1 17 .056 6 22 .214
Lumberjack Classic (Northern Arizona) 9/4 Fri. vs. Liberty 9/5 Sat. vs. Houston Baptist 9/5 Sat. at Northern Arizona
W, 3-0 W, 3-2 L, 3-2
LBSU/LMU Mizuno Invitational 9/10 Thu. Long Beach State 9/11 Fri. Central Arkansas 9/12 Sat. Oakland 9/12 Sat. Stony Brook
L, 3-2 W, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-0
Cal Poly/UCSB Invite 9/18 Fri. at UC Santa Barbara 9/19 Sat. at Cal Poly
W, 3-2 W, 3-1
9/20 9/26 9/29 10/1 10/3 10/8 10/10 10/15 10/17 10/22 10/24 10/29 10/31 11/5 11/7 11/12 11/14 11/21 11/24
W, 3-0 L, 3-2 L, 3-1 L, 3-1 W, 3-0 W, 3-2 W, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-2 L, 3-0 W, 3-2 W, 3-2 W, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-2 L, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-0 W, 3-0
Sun. Sat. Tue. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Thu. Sat. Sat. Tue.
San Diego State at Pepperdine * at #15 BYU * Pacific * vs. Saint Mary’s * at Gonzaga * at Portland * San Francisco * Santa Clara * San Diego * DiG PiNK #12 BYU * at Saint Mary’s * at Pacific * Portland * Gonzaga * at Santa Clara * at San Francisco * Pepperdine * at San Diego *
2015 NCAA Tournament 12/3 Thu. vs. #13 Colorado State 12/4 Fri. at #6 Stanford 12/11 Fri. vs. #9 Kansas 12/12 Sat. NCAA Elite Eight
WCC PRESEASON POLL
NO. SCHOOL (1ST-PLACE VOTES) 1 BYU (7) 2 Santa Clara (3) 3 San Diego 4 Gonzaga 5 LMU 6 Pacific 7 Pepperdine 8t Saint Mary’s 8t San Francisco 10 Portland
W, 3-1 W, 3-0 5:30 pm 8:00 pm
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Rewards POINTS 79 69 58 57 52 51 31 22 22 10
* - WCC Match | DiG PiNK - DiG PiNK Match
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2015 SCHEDULE
OVERALL: 24-8 | WCC: 13-5 | H: 10-4 | A: 10-4 | N: 4-0 Date Day Opponent Time/Result 8/28 Fri. Virginia L, 3-1 8/30 Sun. at #20 UCLA W, 3-0
AHEAD IN THE WCC
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 #11 BYU vs. #5 Nebraska | UK’s Memorial Coliseum LMU vs. #9 Kansas | USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion
2:00 pm 5:30 pm