January 2013 Archives
This blog is
written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene,
Ore. Ray works in the LMU Sports Media department, is a leader of the ROAR
Student Section, is a former sports writer at The Los Angeles Loyolan, and is a
member of The Crimson Circle service organization. His weekly recap of LMU
Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance at the
week that was in Lion Sports.
It's
an exciting and busy time in LMU Athletics this week, as the winter sports are
still in full swing, with spring sports action starting to heat up.
The
biggest game of the week was the men's basketball matchup with hated conference
rival Pepperdine. A huge game for the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Cup, the
Thursday night home game brought out the masses to Gersten Pavilion. After a
close battle for 40 minutes between the Lions and the Waves, a late LMU push
was not enough as Pepperdine escaped with a 60-57 road victory.
The
women also had a tough Thursday night as they had to travel to Provo, Utah for
a big game with BYU. The Cougars were dominate from the get go, as LMU fell
72-53 on the road. Both basketball teams had byes on Saturday and will return
to action against Gonzaga this Thursday.
It was
a fun day at the pool Saturday as the women's swim team had a big turnout for
their senior day meet. The Lions swam against Cal State Bakersfield and Cal
Baptist in their final meet of the season at home. After a long and exciting
day, LMU split the double-dual meet, beating Cal Baptist but falling to CSU
Bakersfield.
Women's
water polo had a big weekend at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite. On Friday,
the Lions fell to #5 Arizona State 11-7, but came back firing on Saturday. The
second day of the invite saw the Lions get two key wins, crushing Azusa Pacific
17-2 and pulling out a win against Santa Clara 14-12. Unfortunately, the Lions
climbed back down on Sunday as they let one get away against Pacific 8-6 and
lost to #1 Stanford 14-8.
The
women's tennis team was battling the Los Angeles rain all weekend. Their
opening match against Westmont College was postponed on Friday and their
Saturday match was pushed back a few hours. But this did not slow the Lions
down as they came out strong in their season debut at home Saturday. Taking on
Concordia University, Irvine, the Lions swept the doubles and singles rounds en
route to a 7-0 win to start their 2013 season 1-0.
However,
the men's tennis team was on the other end of a sweep this weekend. Traveling
to Iowa for an ITA Kick-Off Weekend event, the Lions continued to struggle in
2013. Saturday, they were swept 7-0 to Illinois State before losing 5-2 on
Sunday to the hosting Iowa Hawkeyes, dropping LMU to 0-3 on the season.
Hey guys!
I hope you all had a
nice weekend and great start to your week. I can't believe the Australian Open
has come to an end. So many upsets and prime matches were played and in what
better place to watch it all go down than in Melbourne, Australia. At some
point in my lifetime, I would love to go there, not only to experience the
amazing tournament in the scorching summer sun, but also to just be a tourist
and see the sites. With all that high level tennis that was played in the past
2 weeks, I think I not only speak for myself, but for everyone, that it
motivates people more to get out there on the court and play. I am especially
hungry since I am still fully recovering from my Achilles injury. I'd prefer
getting out there without further delay. But I guess my body will have to be
the judge of that!
Our coach, the
legendary, Jamie Sanchez announced mid-week that our team received the highest
GPA of all sports team at LMU along with the rowing team. The look on our faces
was pure thrill and a little shock. We did not see that coming! It shows that
we work hard not just on the court but in the classroom too! We were so humbled
and honored. During the Alumni basketball game on Thursday against our rival,
Pepperdine, we were recognized on the floor at half time. It was our 10 seconds
of fame! Well done Lions!
Nick, our strength
trainer, had us working on a ton of upper body workouts this week, and I have
to say, I feel that we are all getting a lot stronger. It also helps to take a
lot of time at the end of our workouts for proper stretching and foam rolls. In
the past, we tend to rush our stretching and wonder why we feel so sore the
next day. Stretching is so crucial to prevent fatigue and injuries. Overall,
this year, we've been a lot more conscious of taking care of our bodies post
workouts or intense practices or matches on the court. And of course there's
Nick and our coaches that keep preaching the importance of stretching over and
over again.
Our glimpse of warm
weather came to a halt this week with a few downpours, which unfortunately
prevented our first match from taking place at Westmont College in Santa
Barbara on Friday. Luckily, the rain stopped in time for our home match on
Saturday against Concordia. The Lady Lions secured a 7-0 victory over the
Concordia Eagles, which was a great first win to start off the season.
That's all for now!
Logan
This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. Ray works in the LMU Sports Media department, is a leader of the ROAR Student Section, is a former sports writer at The Los Angeles Loyolan, and is a member of The Crimson Circle service organization. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance at the week that was in Lion Sports. The pride and joy of LMU Athletics continues to become less prideful and less joyous as both basketball teams struggled again last week. The men's basketball team dropped both games last week, which included road losses at San Diego and at San Francisco. Wednesday, the Lions were the victim of an 18-0 Torero run that gave San Diego the lead and enough to hold on for a 78-68 conference win over LMU. Saturday, the Lions lost again after shooting a dismal 28% from the field against an equally underperforming Dons squad. The Lions are now in the conference cellar at 1-5. The women's basketball team split their week's matches, coming up with a 65-50 victory against San Francisco before losing a heartbreaker against Portland 63-59. Both contests were played at Gersten Pavilion with the first game witnessing LMU superstar Alex Cowling become the Lions' all-time leader in rebounds. The Lions are now 2-4 in the WCC. Last weekend, the women's swimming team competed in the Beach Cup in Malibu. The Lions placed 2nd in a field of Pepperdine, San Diego, and Fresno St. For their efforts against conference rival Pepperdine, LMU earned 1.5 points for the Pacific Coast Highway Cup. The women's water polo team opened up their season last weekend, hosting the LMU Opening Weekend Showcase. The Lions defeated #18 Cal-Baptist twice, once 11-0 and once 10-8. LMU also destroyed Cal State San Bernardino 22-3. The three wins will provide confidence and momentum for the Lions as they head into their spring season. The men's tennis team also opened up their spring season last Saturday when they hosted future WCC opponent Pacific. The Lions lost a close match 4-3 after barely dropping the doubles point and only winning three out of six singles matches. |
Hey there tennis fans!
My name is
Logan Finnell and I am a sophomore on the LMU Women's Tennis Team. I am taking
over as the blogger this semester on behalf of my team where I will update you
on recent results, team adventures traveling, as well as give you an inside
look into the life of a college athlete.
I hope you all had a very nice
holiday season and a happy new year! 2013 is upon us. This means, a new start,
new beginning, and of course, a new season for your LMU Lady Lions! It was so
nice for our team to reunite during our meeting on Monday after not seeing each
other for four weeks. Being away from my team for so long, makes me realize how
much I miss them because we are all so incredibly close, much like a tight knit
of family of 13. We are that way, because we do spend countless amount of time
together on the court, in the strength training gym, in the training room, as
well as in classes. So you can say that we all see each other pretty darn
often. It is so nice to be surrounded by teammates who are constantly
encouraging and supporting one another whether it's through competitive match
situations, or when someone's trying to bounce back from an injury, or even
when the strains of academia get the better of them.
This week, our focus has been
directed towards getting quickly adjusted back into our regular practice routine
and a new strength-training schedule. It was also the dreaded, "fitness
testing" week. I unfortunately am still recovering from an achilles injury for
another week so I had to miss our fitness testing and tennis practices, but I
am optimistic to return shortly! We knew that the holiday season brings a lot
of unhealthy eating habits and perhaps a lack of exercise, but not for us! We
instead tried to create a happy medium between the two. Sure, we enjoyed our
holiday treats, but we made sure to maintain a relatively good diet regiment
and kept up with our workouts from Nick, our strength trainer in addition to
getting out there on the court as often as we could. Everyone is looking good;
yes, we've lost a little color in our skin tone due to the bitter cold
temperatures that a lot of us faced returning back to our homelands over break.
Not to worry though! The hot weather months are approaching, and LA never
disappoints to provide us with that sunshine that we've been missing. On
Saturday we took our team pictures and individual pictures for the website. You
can only imagine the anxiety going on prior. "Is my hair okay?" "Should I wear
it up or down?" We are girls remember, we are bound to act like this before we
get in front of the camera!
This Friday will be our first
non-conference match against Westmont College in Santa Barbara! So wish us
luck!
Until next week!
Logan
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