This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. 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.

Fall sports are officially over for 2012 here at LMU with water polo, volleyball, and cross country wrapping things up over the weekend. The campus is starting to slow down, as students are getting ready for the much-needed five-day break to celebrate Thanksgiving before returning for the final stretch of the semester.

The men's water polo team finished their season at the WWPA Championships in Whittier, Calif. last weekend. Friday, the Lions beat Pomona-Pitzer 13-11 in the opening round. Saturday, the Lions' hopes of a conference championship were washed away in a heartbreaking 10-9 loss to #13 Air Force. In the consolation final Sunday, LMU went out with a win as they defeated #16 UC Davis 12-7 to take third place in the tournament.

Volleyball's final weekend resembled much of their season as they earned one big win and then lost a close one. The Lions entered the final round of conference games with a slight outside shot at making the NCAA tournament, giving them something to fight for. LMU opened up strong on the road, sweeping Santa Clara 3-0 on Thursday. But at San Francisco on the final day of the season, the Lions fell 3-2 in five sets. LMU will now take a few weeks off before getting ready for the sand volleyball season in the spring.

Senior Sheree Shea represented LMU at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships Saturday in Louisville, Ky. She was the lone Lion to qualify for the meet after strong performances all fall and an 11^th place qualifying finish at the West Regionals in Seattle, Wash. last weekend. Shea ran the 6,000 meter event in a time of 21:23.2.

Men's basketball earned their first road win of the season in a 76-73 decision at CSU Bakersfield. The Lions jumped out to a fast start, going up 16 points early before CSUB came charging back at home. The game wasn't pretty, but the Lions will take the result and improve to 2-1. LMU is now off to Anchorage, Ak. for the Great Alaska Shootout, where they will play three games over the Thanksgiving weekend. 

Women's basketball got its first two wins of the season in the first two home games of the year last week. On Thursday, the Lions beat visiting Long Beach St. 58-52 and Saturday, the team put up 98 points in a 17-point win over Utah St. The 98 points is the most scored by the Lions since 2007 and the third most in program history.

The LMU swimming team had a big weekend at the Arena Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., sending multiple swimmers to event finals on each day in a very competitive field. Freshman Kristin Clarno set the LMU record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.98. LMU's 200 medley relay team also broke a school record over the weekend with a time of 1:44.23. Many Lions also set season and career personal records. 

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. 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 heart and soul of LMU athletics in back with basketball season underway all across the country.

Friday night in front of a packed home student section, the LMU men's team put on a show, destroying Pacifica 108-49 with stat padding and slam-dunks abound. The 108 points was more than an LMU team had scored in two decades. In the Lions' first real test at SMU on Sunday, that offense was nowhere to be found as the Lions lost 73-58.

The women's basketball team opened up their season on a road trip throughout the Southwest this weekend. The Lions fell 79-51 at UTEP on Saturday in the first regular season game for new head coach Charity Elliott. LMU will look to salvage the trip tonight when the take on New Mexico St.

In their final weekend of play, the men's soccer team ended their season in style on a five game unbeaten streak. Friday, the Lions drew a 0-0 tie against Santa Clara who finished second in the WCC. In their final game on Sunday, LMU beat Saint Mary's 4-2 in a heated shootout, ending the year at 4-5-3 and tied for fifth in the WCC.

Volleyball also had a strong weekend, grinding out two key wins. The Lions beat No. 24 Pepperdine 3-1 in the final home match of the year to improve to 7-7 in conference play. In a non-WCC game Saturday, the Lions came back from down two sets to win in five on the road at Cal State Northridge.

Men's water polo went on the road last Thursday to end regular season play at Cal Baptist. The Lions barely came out on top 8-7, making it four wins in a row with three of those being decided by a single goal. The Lions are now 15-9 overall, heading into the WWPA Championships this week 

Both cross country teams competed in the NCAA West Regionals in Seattle, Wash. over the weekend. 10 of 14 LMU runners set personal records at the meet, with senior Sheree Shea finishing in 11^th place and qualifying for the NCAA National Championships next Saturday.

Both tennis teams wrapped up their fall schedules this weekend with the men at the SoCal Intercollegiates hosted by UCLA and the women at the Jack Kramer Invitational in Palos Verdes, Calif. Both teams sent a handful of players to their respective events and are now off until January when their main spring seasons will begin. 

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports. 

The open to the 2012-13 LMU men's basketball season comes at a perfect time tomorrow with midterms mostly finished and the student body at the peak of their excitement in between two Halloween weekends. But let's talk about what has already happened in the wide world of LMU sports.

Lion water polo got back on track this week when the 11^th ranked men's team won both of its WWPA matches to improve to 9-2 in conference play. Friday, LMU scored the game-winning goal with nine seconds left to beat #16 UC Davis on the road. Saturday, the Lions won again on the road when they took down #19 Santa Clara 12-7.

Volleyball had a strong week as well, which began Thursday in Malibu when they took #23 Pepperdine to a fifth set before losing a close one. Pepperdine needed 32 points to win the first set and 28 to win the second set before LMU took back the third and fourth sets, which led to a close loss in the final deciding set. At home Saturday, the Lions took care of business against Gonzaga when they won 3-0 in a quick and efficient sweep.

After a strong season of races, the Lion cross country teams both took 5^th place at the WCC Championship meet in Portland, Ore. Leading the men was junior Weston Strum who finished seventh overall while the women's race saw senior Sharee Shea take third overall. The Lions will compete at the NCAA West Regionals in Seattle starting on November 9.

Men's soccer had their bye week the previous week and after 12 days without a match, the team came out slow on the road against WCC leader San Diego when they fell 2-0 on Wednesday. Sunday, the Lions ended a four-match losing streak when they drew a tie against San Francisco at home. This gave the Lions their fifth point and keeps them at sixth place in the conference.

The women's soccer team also saw a streak end but unfortunately this was not a good thing. After winning three games in a row, the Lions had a tough stay in the Northwest, losing to Gonzaga 2-0 on Friday and losing to Portland 2-0 on Sunday. Remaining with nine points, the women are now tied for fifth place in the WCC.

Continuing its start to the season, the swim team had another strong showing at the Malibu Invitational over the weekend. The LMU women won two of the three distance events and won 11 out of the 14 sprint and mid-distance events.

The LMU men's golf team wrapped up their fall season last week at the Bill Cullum Invitational at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, Calif. After three rounds of play, the Lions finished the tournament in ninth place.

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports. 

Friday, one of the biggest nights every year in Lion Athletics occurred when LMU held its annual Madness at Midnight event. The night got fans excited for the upcoming basketball season, introducing everyone to the players of both the men's and women's teams. Players from both teams competed in a free throw contest, a three-point contest, as well as a dunk contest for some of the men. Along with showcasing the basketball talent, Madness was also an opportunity for the student body to see all of the school's Division I sports teams on display through dance competitions, which the softball team won. The night included food trucks and giveaways for students as well.

The women's soccer team had a huge weekend, earning six points through two conference victories. On Friday in Malibu, LMU destroyed then ranked #15 Pepperdine 3-0 getting all three goals in the first eleven minutes of play. Then at home Sunday, the Lions defeated San Francisco 1-0 after scoring 11 seconds into the first overtime period.

LMU Volleyball had an impressive weekend, also getting two much-needed wins. In the Northwest for the weekend, the Lions improved to 5-1 on the road this season as they swept Gonzaga Thursday and beat Portland in straight sets as well on Saturday.

An injury-filled men's water polo team continued to sink over the weekend, losing to two conference rivals. The #9 Lions had been on a roll with a seven-game winning streak before a series of setbacks led the Lions to drop matches to #1 USC a week ago and to #10 Long Beach St. and to #11 UC San Diego over the weekend.

In the final race before the WCC Championships, the men's and women's cross country teams sent four runners a piece to tune up at the Titan Invitational in Fullerton. The Lions did not have enough runners for the teams to place but will be in full force at the conference championship meet in Portland next weekend.

The men's tennis team competed at the ITA Regional tournament in Irvine over the weekend. Four Lions competed in singles and doubles events with the #7 seeded duo of Nicholas Bjerke and Sebastian Bustamante still alive in the doubles semifinals. In singles, Bjerke also advanced to the round of 16.

The women's tennis team was in San Diego for their ITA Regional tournament. April Bisharat and Reka Rohonyl both advanced to the round of 32 in singles competition while Kristine Kouyoumjian made it to the semifinals in the consolation bracket before the final two rounds were rained out.

The men's golf team went abroad last week for the Cabo Collegiate tournament in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. What was meant to be a three round event turned into only 18 holes of competition as day two could not be finished and day three never began due to rainy conditions. Tyler Torano's 72 was good for a tie for second place in the tournament with his back nine score of 33 good for the best nine-hole score in the event. The team finished in ninth place. 

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports. 

Two weeks away from the WCC Championships, the LMU cross country teams continued to look fast over the weekend. Amongst a strong field at the Chile Pepper Festival race in Fayetteville, Ark., the women's team finished in fifth place and the men's team received fourth place.

After seven consecutive wins, the ninth-ranked men's water polo team was put to the test Saturday against #1 USC. The big home crowd helped the Lions to a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period but the talent and depth of the visiting Trojans proved too much to handle as the Lions eventually lost 13-6.

The volleyball team got back on track Thursday with a win in straight sets over visiting Santa Clara. After six straight home matches, the Lions then started their stretch of two weeks of road games. On Saturday, LMU fell to #13 San Diego in three games. The weekend split sent LMU to 2-5 in the WCC.

Considering they played against a team that had not lost the previous eight games in #18 Santa Clara, the women's soccer team performed quite well over the weekend. On the road against the Broncos, LMU barely lost 1-0 as a late goal held up for the home team despite more shots on goal and corner kicks by the Lions. Then at home Sunday, the team picked up its first conference win against Saint Mary's in an offense-heavy 3-2 match.

Continuing to struggle, the men's soccer team lost another pair of games during the week. After jumping to an early lead Wednesday against visiting San Diego, the Lions could not hang on and eventually lost 2-1 in the two overtime periods. At San Francisco on Friday, some defensive mishaps led to two USF goals, sending the Lions to an unexpected 1-4-1 start in WCC play. The Lions will receive a much needed bye week now before returning to play in San Diego on October 24.

The women's tennis team played well on the road when they traveled to Tennessee last week for the Memphis Invitational. On Friday, all six Lions won their singles matches against opponents from UT Martin but lost 1-2 in doubles matches against the University of Memphis. Saturday, LMU went 2-4 in singles matches against Memphis and swept Drake in three doubles matches.  And on Sunday, the Lions went 5-1 in singles matches against Drake to wrap up a successful weekend.

In their first competitions of the year, the women's swim team came out to a fast start as they earned a share of first place in the PCSC Relays Saturday and dominated the PCSC Pentathlon Sunday, which were both held at Biola University in La Mirada. Calif. 

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports.

The ninth-ranked LMU men's water polo team won all four games at the Claremont Convergence tournament last weekend, extending its winning streak to a season-best of seven games. The tournament was a brief break from the tough schedule of ranked teams the Lions have been playing and was also a way to build confidence and momentum heading into a match with #1 USC at home this Saturday.

The men's soccer team split its first home weekend of conference games. Friday, the Lions defeated Gonzaga University 2-1 (2OT), giving the team three points and its first conference win. Against the University of Portland on Sunday, the Lions got out to an early lead but the visiting Pilots kept plugging away before coming away with a 2-1 win.

After a successful fall preseason, the women's soccer team opened up WCC play at home against the University of San Diego on Sunday. The Lions dominated the shot count at 15-5 but the only shot that mattered was San Diego's goal in the 64^th minute, which led to a 1-0 loss to the visiting Toreros.

Last week, the volleyball team continued its theme of getting hot early but failing to finish. Thursday, the Lions came out firing against visiting #16 BYU. But after winning the first two sets, BYU came out of the locker room determined, fighting back to win the next three sets and leaving with the victory. Saturday, LMU hosted Saint Mary's, a team the Lions defeated 3-0 in Moraga two weeks prior. However, the Lions could not do it again as the visiting Gaels won the match in four sets, dropping the Lions to a disappointing 1-4 conference record.

Both cross country teams continued their strong showings and fast finishes over the weekend. At the 20^th annual UC San Diego Triton Invitational, the women got their second team victory of the season, while the men received an impressive second place finish.

The women's tennis team had a very successful opening weekend as they competed at the Cal State Fullerton Fall Intercollegiate tournament for their first event of the fall. LMU sophomore Tory Parravi won the tournament for the top flight singles competition, with other Lions playing well also.

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports.

It was another full weekend in the pool for the men's water polo team as the 10th-ranked Lions competed at the SoCal Tournament in Santa Barbara. On the first day, LMU fell to #7 Pepperdine before defeating #17 Santa Clara. This Saturday split led to games against #11 UC San Diego and #9 Long Beach St. on Sunday, two teams that had beaten the Lions earlier in the year. Despite this, LMU took down both opponents, earning a ninth place finish and improving to a 5-1 record in the WWPA.

The volleyball team continued to look sharp this weekend, but were unable to finish against conference rival and 16th-ranked San Diego Thursday. The Lions, who have beaten some top tier teams this season, took their confidence into the home match against the Toreros. LMU won the first set and looked as strong as ever. In the second and third sets, LMU had late leads but could not finish as San Diego went to 27 and 28 points respectively in order to win. San Diego finished it out in the fourth, making it a 1-3 loss for the Lions. Saturday, the Lions took care of business quickly, defeating CSU Bakersfield in straight sets. They are 9-6 overall and 1-2 in conference.

LMU women's soccer got back on track Sunday, earning their first victory in three weeks. The 3-2 win over Utah Valley improved the team's record to 6-3-2 overall. The strong preseason has the Lions feeling confident as they head into WCC play this weekend when they play San Diego at home this Sunday.

The men's soccer team opened up conference play on the road over the weekend. The trip started off strong as the Lions had the lead for most of the game on Friday at St. Mary's, the reigning WCC champions. However, a late goal led to an ending result of a 2-2 tie, giving the Lions one point. Sunday, LMU lost 1-0 to Santa Clara, sending the Lions to a 0-1-1 conference mark.

In their second tournament of the fall, the LMU golf team played at the Saint Mary's Invitational at the Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, California. As one of the toughest courses the team will play all season, the Lions struggled on both days, finishing in 11th place out of 15 teams.

Both cross country teams competed in the Stanford Invitational Saturday. In races that featured many conference opponents, the women finished sixth out of 29 teams and first among WCC teams. The men also ran well, finishing seventh out of 29 teams and second among WCC opponents.

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports.

With fierce conference play looming, the LMU fall sports teams continued to face tough competition over the past week as they gear up for the grueling weeks to come.

Arguably the biggest win of the week for LMU came in Palo Alto Friday when the men's soccer team defeated Stanford University 2-1 in overtime. Eric Brunter scored his first goal of the season in regulation before Craig Nitti netted the golden goal at the start of overtime. Continuing their weekend of matches with Bay Area Pac-12 schools, the Lions played in Berkeley on Sunday but lost 1-0 to Cal. LMU will head back to northern California next weekend to open WCC play at Saint Mary's and at Santa Clara.

The volleyball team opened up conference play last week when they traveled to Moraga and swept Saint Mary's on Thursday. Then back at home on Saturday, the Lions lost a close five-set match to San Francisco, dropping LMU to 1-1 in WCC competition. Litara Keil was dominant throughout the weekend, recording 12 kills Thursday before setting a career-high mark with 24 kills on Saturday.

Also going 1-1 for the weekend was the men's water polo team. Playing at #2 UCLA, the Lions lost 16-8 on Friday night. LMU recovered quickly though and put on a show for the home crowd the next day when they beat Pomona-Pitzer 13-7 in the team's first home match of the season. Milutin Mitrovich led the team with six goals over the weekend.

In Santa Clarita this weekend, both cross country teams competed in the Mustang Challenge. Jessica Mumaugh finished seventh overall, helping the women's team cruise to a third place team finish. Michael Duncan led the men's team, finishing eighth overall and helping the men earn a sixth place team finish. 

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. His weekly recap of LMU Athletics will be posted here every Monday allowing for a quick glance for the week that was in Lion Sports.

Starting on the home front, the men's soccer team lost a tough battle with No. 7 UCLA. Despite the strong defensive showing, one goal was all the visiting Bruins needed as they earned the 1-0 victory and sent the Lions to 1-4-1 on the year.

Four men's tennis players competed at the Costa Mesa Pro Classic over the weekend. Sophomore Todd Volmari and junior Daniel Simko were bounced in the first round, while sophomores Felix van Kann and Othar Kordsachia advanced to the second round of qualifying play but no further.

At the NorCal Invitational hosted by Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., the men's water polo team played four ranked teams in less than 48 hours. They had close losses to No. 7 Pacific and No. 9 Long Beach State, but pulled out wins against No. 18 Concordia and No. 11 UC San Diego. The tournament split gave the Lions a 10^th-place finish.

Both LMU cross country teams competed at a conference preview race at Fernhill Park in Portland, Ore. The women ran to a second-place finish while the men finished fourth at the site that will hold the WCC Championships at the end of the season. Senior Sheree Shea finished with the fastest time among WCC female runners.

The women's soccer team visited Tucson, Ariz. this weekend for the Arizona Cats Classic. After a rough 3-0 loss to Arizona State, the Lions slightly salvaged the trip with a 0-0 tie against the University of Arizona, continuing to show they can play with anyone and advancing to 5-3-1 for the season.

The volleyball team kept their strong season going this weekend at the Golden Dome Invitational at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind. The Lions dropped a close match to the University of Kansas before defeating Xavier and the hosting Fighting Irish for a 2-1 finish that was good for second place.

The golf team opened their season at The McLaughlin tournament hosted by St. John's at Bethpage Golf Course in Farmingdale, New York. After three days of play at the Red Course, the Lions finished tied for eighth out of the 16-team field. Senior Bryan Bergna placed tied for fourth after repeatedly shooting under par.

As LMU celebrates its Centennial, a big part of LMU's history within Athletics are athletes going to have success within International experience. Reid Priddy experienced Olympic Gold in 2008 with U.S. Men's Volleyball team. He wasn't the first to do so.

Paul Sunderland helped Team USA earn gold in men's volleyball in the 1984 Olympics right here in Los Angeles.

In 1964, Hugh Foley won gold for Team USA Rowing. He was a member of the Rowing Eight with Coxswain team that claimed the top prize.

The first part of this month saw SEVEN Lions competing at the 2011 World University Games.

Women's water polo incoming senior Kimberly Benedetti was the lone current student-athlete to play in the games, winning a Silver Medal for the U.S. Women's Water Polo Team.

In the women's beach volleyball competition, former LMU teammates Heather Hughes (2004-07) and Emily Day (2005-08) joined forces to capture a silver medal in Shenzhen, China.  The silver is the first beach volleyball medal ever for the United States at the World University Games.

Also participating in the games were Andy Stevens (2008-11) for the U.S. Men's Water Polo Team and Diana Romero (2008-11), Daisy Carrillo (2009-11) and Mary Ann Campos (2008-11) for the Mexican Women's Water Polo Team.

GO LIONS!

Men's Soccer in Rankings.

GO LIONS!