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.

Lion pride is at a true low point around campus these days, with most LMU teams continuing their slumps over the past week. 

In what some might call the most anticipated LMU sporting event every year, the men's basketball team had no answers for the visiting Gonzaga Bulldogs. Last Thursday, LMU hosted Gonzaga in front of a packed Gersten Pavilion with hopes of upsetting the No. 7 Bulldogs, who are undefeated in the WCC. But the Lions failed to get stops on defense or baskets on offense, which added up to an embarrassing 88-43 loss. 

The women's basketball team had an unpleasant visit to the Northwest over the weekend, dropping another two conference games, extending their losing streak to four. Thursday night, the Lions fell to Gonzaga 79-57 before losing another close game with Portland, 65-63 on Saturday.

In their final meet before the season finale at the MPSF Championships, the LMU swimming team dropped a pair of decisions at UC Santa Barbara Saturday. At the double dual meet, the Lions fell to host UCSB 176-85 and also lost to Pacific 159-103. This meet ended the Lions' regular season, as the team will now begin preparation for the conference championships in two weeks.

The women's tennis team provided the highlight of the week when they upset No. 39 Long Beach St. at home 4-3 on Friday. The big non-conference win took the Lions to 2-0 to start the season. However, their luck changed when they went on the road Sunday as LMU was swept 7-0 to No. 65 UC Irvine.

The men's tennis team had a tough test at hand on Sunday as they took on No. 2 USC, who has dominated the region for years. The Lions lost 6-1 and dropped to a bitter 0-4 to start 2013.

While most of the teams in season are struggling, other teams are making coaching moves in hopes to foster future success. The women's volleyball team just named Ron Larson as its top assistant coach. Larson is the former head coach at UC Riverside and has also helped coach the U.S. Olympic team. The softball team just added Katie Schroeder to the coaching staff as well. Schroeder was a two-time All-American for UCLA before graduating last year. 

This blog is written by Ray Ferrari, a sophomore Communication Studies major from Eugene, Ore. Ray also writes sports for the Los Angeles Loyolan and is a leader of the ROAR Student Section. 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.

After a long road trip that included a weekend in Alaska over the break, the men's basketball team finally returned home last week for two games at Gersten Pavilion. Thursday night against Long Beach St., the Lions came out firing and went up by double digits early. But a 49ers comeback ended the hard-fought match giving LMU the 73-70 loss. Saturday the Lions took on Portland St. for the annual homecoming game. A pregame tailgate and t-shirt giveaway got the LMU fan base behind their team and helped them to a 66-56 win and a 4-4 record.

The women's basketball team found similar results in their first week back after their Thanksgiving tournament. At home Wednesday, the Lions easily handled Colorado St. and won 69-52. LMU then headed across town to face UCLA on Sunday, where they lost 86-66 to the No. 19 Bruins.

The volleyball team played their first postseason match since 2005 on Friday when they went to Palo Alto to face Western Kentucky. After receiving the unexpected bid to the tournament the week before, the Lions were thrilled to extend their season. Unfortunately the No. 17 Hill Toppers (32-3) were too much to handle as they swept LMU 25-23, 25-19, 25-17.

Three LMU swimmers were invited to compete at the U.S. Winter National Championships last weekend in Austin, Texas. Senior Camille Hopp appeared in two events, the 100 breaststroke, in which she recorded a season-best time, and the 50 freestyle. Junior Rachel Dekar raced in the 100 breaststroke as well while freshman Kristen Clarno swam in the 200 intermediate medley. All three swimmers finished their preliminary race in the top 50. The event featured the top swimmers in the country, which included a number of Olympians.

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.

While most students were at home celebrating Thanksgiving and relaxing over the break with their families, the basketball teams had work to do, both travelling outside the continental U.S. for holiday tournaments. But the most exciting news of the week for Lion Sports came calling Sunday afternoon when the volleyball team received a bid to the NCAA tournament.

After finishing the season on a loss at San Francisco that sent the volleyball team to a mere 8-8 record in the conference, most of the LMU community gave up on hopes of postseason play. But the NCAA saw the WCC as one of the premier conferences in the nation and invited a record-tying six teams into the 64-team field. This will be the first LMU volleyball team in the field since 2005 and first under third-year head coach Tom Black. The Lions will head back to Northern California this week for the Palo Alto regional, where they will face Western Kentucky (32-3) on Friday.

The men's basketball team went to the Last Frontier over the break for the Great Alaska shootout in Anchorage. On national television Thursday night, the Lions took on Oral Roberts. After a tight first half, ORU took control late to drop the Lions 75-66. In the consolation game Friday, LMU got back on track with an easy win over Texas State 78-63. And in the consolation final against host Alaska-Anchorage, nothing would drop for the Lions as they shot under 27 percent from the field en route to a 83-77 loss.

The women's team found a bit warmer weather than the sub-freezing temperatures in Alaska on their trip to the Bahamas for two games, but was just as cold on the floor. The Lions came out slow in their first game, shooting just 22 percent from the field in a low-scoring 55-33 loss to Iowa State Friday. LMU was able to salvage the trip in a thrilling 75-74 victory over Tulsa on Saturday in which they overcame a 20-point deficit on their way to their first road win of the year.

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.

I'm sitting on a plane and staring out the window, thinking to myself how beautiful life is. We are flying over Spokane, Washington and I'm looking out the tiny window at all of the trees.  If you have ever flown over the state of Washington, you know there are millions.  Well, the trees remind me of our women's volleyball team.  14 girls, 14 very different lives, 14 different talents that come together to form one goal...  14 girls that share one common bond... to play for the letters on our chest. 

Just like a plane, how important are the wings?  Very important obviously...our coaching staff  are our form of wings.  They provide us with everything we need to know.  We are not just a team at LMU we are a family....the things we have been through, the things we overcome bring us closer and closer every day.  As I sit on this cold, overcast flight, my thoughts of this upcoming weekend run through my head.  We play Gonzaga first.  Then, Saturday, we play Portland.

It is now Friday morning around 10:45 A.M. and here I am back on a plane flying to Portland, Oregon.  Last night was great! We swept the Gonzaga Bulldogs in three games!  Our team rocked it!  Now we get to add another "W" to our record.  Patiently awaiting a long easy day ahead, we fly to Portland. We have practice later this evening as we prepare for tomorrow's match against Portland. The LMU Lions are on the prowl and cannot wait to play Portland on Saturday.  I'm going to take a nap now. Don't worry... I'll keep you updated tomorrow.

Final update: It is now Saturday around 6:45 P.M.  Today has been amazing! First, we swept the Portland Pilots in three!  We spent some free time after the game eating lunch and going shopping.  We were jumping out of corners yelling the "happy birthday" song to our coach, Tom.  It was so much fun.  It is pouring down rain in Portland as we drive to the airport. Excited from the weekend, the LMU Lions are eager to get back home to LA!

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.

Here are some "behind the scenes action" of your LMU Lions Volleyball Team.

4:30 P.M. Thursday, I am walking out of film and heading into the locker room to prep for game time.  As I walk into the training room to get treatment on my hand, Betsi, Felicia, Amber, and Kat are all in the training room as well.  They're always in the training room getting their bodies ready for game time. 

I get all my treatment done. I take out my IPod and my headphones and just go into a different world.  I'm in the locker room with everyone about 15 minutes before Warm-Up time.  I put on my socks, kneepads and shoes . . . still blocked out to the world... listening to my music.  Now I take a moment and look around - everyone is basically doing their own thing.  Taylor is braiding other players' hair, Cait and Tara are dancing in the middle of the room (this is normalJ don't worry).  Kenna is heating her shoulder; Hannah is listening to her IPod and getting in the zone.  Avery, Rochelle and Sara are hanging out and putting their gear on.  The girls from the training room join us before warm up. 

We go out for warm up and ten minutes before game time we run back into the locker room to change into jerseys.  Feeling pumped, everyone is gathered by their locker, shirts flying off and game jerseys being thrown on.  As a team, we huddle around each other and do our pre-game ritual cheer (sorry but this is confidential).  Now we are off, running down the halls of the gym as we stop and wait in a long hallway.  Each girl starts banging the LMU beat against the wall.  Before every game we do our LMU cheer against the walls of Gersten.  Chanting for the three letters on our chest, we run out to the court, pumped and ready for the game. 

Across the net...University of San Diego. (Okay, did you SEE their bus? Dude, they've got a nice bus!)

This was a big game for us.  We played a very hard fought match against San Diego but came up short. We lost to the Toreros in 4 sets.  We won game 1 with a score of 25-22. Then lost 27-25, 27-25 and 25-21. Angry and frustrated after the match, we talk about what we need to do in our next match in order to change the outcome. 

After our talk and another day of practice we were put to the test again as we swept Cal State University of Bakersfield on Saturday! Awesome job Lady Lions!

 We are faced with a tough week ahead.  We will be tested this week as we face BYU on Thursday and St. Mary's on Saturday.  We really need all our fans here on Thursday and you need to wear PINK (Not the brand...the color) It is "Dig Pink" night. Wear as much pink as you can! We want everyone in the gym to be covered in pink.  Donations can be made online if you'd like to support our cause as we fight against breast cancer.

(More information can be found on the LMU volleyball website)

Both games will be played at home. Please come support the Women's Volleyball Team as we set out on our quest to make a big statement in the WCC conference. 

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.

Have to love Monday mornings - back to classes and practice for the week.  All of us are so busy, busy, busy. 

Last week the women's volleyball team played on the road Thursday at St. Mary's and at home Saturday against the University of San Francisco.  Thursday went really well. Lots of fans packed the gym to watch St. Mary's conference home opener.  Too bad for them, we came ready to play.  The Gael's, who were predicted to finish first place in conference, were swept in three by the LMU Lions!  I was so proud of our team. We played together point by point and got a huge win for the program. 

Using that momentum, we came home to play the University of San Francisco on Saturday.  A long five game fight took place. We came up short.  We lost 15-12 in the 5th game.  After the loss we talked as a team and we are using that match as a lesson as we head into practice this week. 

The West Coast Conference is very tough this year. In fact, three teams in our conference are ranked in the Top 25 in the AVCA rankings.  Our team will have to come ready to compete and execute for every point in every match to achieve our goals.  I am confident in our team that we will use our loss as a lesson as we move forward to our future conference matches.  Malcolm S. Forbes says, "Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat."  We will take the USF match as some motivation to work harder in practice this week to bring our best game Thursday against San Diego. 

Come support the women's volleyball team Thursday at home at 7:00 pm as we continue our quest to make LMU known in the West Coast Conference.

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 sophomore women's volleyball player Ashley Maxfeldt.  Ashley will be blogging throughout the year to give fans insight into the 2012 women's volleyball team and life at LMU as a student-athlete.

Sundays.  The one day of the week that the LMU Women's volleyball team has off.  Lets just say in the eyes of an athlete, we live for Sundays.  Just got back from LAX - our second home.  Back from a tournament held in South Bend, Indiana at Notre Dame University.  Mentally and physically exhausted from the weekend we sit back and relax and appreciate the life lessons learned this weekend.  Day one was very rough for us, we lost to the University of Kansas.  Frustrated with how things went with Kansas we had to pick up our heads and refocus for day two.  Notre Dame and Xavier were our next competitors.  Our first match of day two was against Notre Dame, a packed home court.  A team that was 4-0 at home, a team who had dancing leprechauns throwing out hot dogs to fans, and a team looking to sweep someone else on their home court. However all of those factors were used to our advantage.  The locker room talk before the match consisted of the team talking about how we wanted to come out with nothing to lose, and how we wanted to make a statement and make LMU known across the map.  Coming out strong the LMU Lions swept the first 2 sets, losing the 3rd but coming back and winning the 4th set to win the match.  Let me give you an insight on the point that won us the match.  Notre Dame set one of their best outside hitters and Litara Keil and Hannah Tedrow jump up to block the Notre Dame outside for the win.  Once that ball hit the ground, the LMU Lions were celebrating hard!  Thirteen girls jumping and screaming about a victory that will be one for the books.  A team that never stopped fighting and gave everything to beat a higher ranked team will come out on top.  The locker room after that match was a huge celebration of hard work and determination.  After having an hour off we were back to the grind with Xavier, another higher-ranked team.  This was another great match for the LMU Lions, taking the reigns and beating Xavier in four sets.  This weekend was a great way to end pre-season and come into this next week ready for West Coast Conference play.  Back on the road Thursday to play St. Mary's, and eager to be back home in Gersten to play San Francisco. The Women's volleyball team is ready for war, and ready to be heard.

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 the 2011-12 Centennial Season continues for LMU athletics, the first week of October will be a fun one as it will be a week that features a Wells Fargo PCH Cup showdown on ESPNU on Wednesday and then is capped by a Centennial Game celebration on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, LMU women's volleyball will host rival Pepperdine in Gersten Pavilion at 6 p.m. The earlier start time is because ESPNU will be broadcasting the game nationally. The game will also be the second of the season in the Wells Fargo PCH Cup Series.

And to top it off, it's a big one in terms of the standings early in West Coast Conference play. LMU improved to 3-1 in the WCC with a sweep over Saint Mary's on Saturday and is tied for second. Pepperdine, ranked 19^th nationally, is at 3-0 in conference play.

Then on Sunday, Oct. 9 women's soccer will host Gonzaga at Sullivan Field for its 2011 Centennial Game. Start time of 1 p.m. It will be the Lions first conference game at home as they travel to San Francisco on Friday. The Centennial Celebration will offer special promotions, including a food give-away to the first 100 students. Follow the Lions on Facebook and Twitter to find out what the give-away will be.

It's all part of a busy week for LMU in conference play. Men's golf plays Monday and Tuesday up in Reno, Nevada, at the Wolf Pack Classic, taking on several WCC foes San Diego and Santa Clara in the process.

Then on Thursday, men's water polo returns home to face conference foe Whittier at the Burns Aquatics Center on Thursday at 3 p.m. 

Friday will feature more action at Gersten Pavilion as women's volleyball hosts a non-conference match with perennial NCAA tournament participant UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.

The action will conclude on Sunday with the Centennial game for women's soccer. All season the Lions will celebrate the 2011-12 Centennial Season with special Centennial games for each of its varsity programs. Men's water polo started the action with a standing-room only crowd of over 800 at the Burns Center in September, followed by women's volleyball with nearly a 1,000 against BYU last Thursday. Following women's soccer will be a pair of Centennial Races.

On Oct. 29 men and women's cross country will be at the WCC Championships and in the process the Lions will celebrate its 100 years at the races. Also that day, men's rowing will host UCLA at the Bove Boathouse for its Centennial Race.

Follow the Centennial all season at LMULions.com/LMUat100.

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!