BRIEFLY... Having won three of its last five matches, including two straight last week, LMU (12-13, 3-8) remains at home to host cross-town rival Pepperdine (14-10, 7-4) in West Coast Conference action this week. The Lions and Waves will meet at 7 p.m. on Friday, the only match of the week for both teams. Friday's match, which counts in the PCH Challenge standings, will be provided via Gametracker, video stream and audio broadcast at LMULions.com.
BEST IN THE WEST...COAST CONFERENCE... Freshman Alaina Bergsma was named West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Week, it was announced by the conference office Monday. Bergsma, a native of Chandler, Ariz., guided LMU to a 2-0 record at home last week, including a three-set sweep of the University of Portland on Saturday afternoon. The Lions earned a five-set victory over Gonzaga on Thursday night before sweeping the Pilots in the weekend affair. Bergsma shares the accolade with San Francisco's Haley Carroll. The selection is the first for Bergsma in her career, and is the first for the Lions this season. Bergsma collected 60 kills over the two matches played, averaging 7.50 kills per set and hitting .368 with only 17 errors in 117 attacks. Not only a threat on the attack, she also served-up three aces, posted one block solo, a block assist, 29 digs and five assists. The 6'3 outside hitter collected a double-double in both matches last week, running her total to 10 double-doubles on the season to match teammate Alesha Young for most in the West Coast Conference. She also totaled 64.5 points (8.06 per set) over the eight sets played, while averaging .38 aces per set and 3.62 digs per set. Bergsma notched a career-high 32 kills against Gonzaga on Thursday, five short of the LMU record for a freshman in a single match set by Amy Moeller on October 16, 1992 versus San Francisco. She hit .268 (32-13/71) over the course of the five sets, teaming the kills with two service aces, 17 digs and a block solo for a double-double. On Saturday against Portland, Bergsma had 28 kills and hit a blistering .522 (28-4/46) to lead LMU to the sweep of the Pilots. She teamed that mark with five assists, a service ace, one block assist and 12 digs for another double-double.
PCH CHALLENGE... Separated by 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, longtime cross-town adversaries Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine have come together in an effort to boost their decades-long rivalry with the creation of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Challenge. The series will serve as an annual scorecard for the NCAA-sponsored athletic contests between the Lions and Waves, and challenges each institution to rise above the other within the West Coast Conference. LMU and Pepperdine will be represented by 12 of their intercollegiate athletic teams through both regular and post-season competitions over the course of the academic calendar. Teams scheduled to compete head-to-head during the regular season include baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, men's tennis, women's tennis (if scheduled) and women's volleyball. Any head-to-head competition, including matches in the post-season and tournaments throughout the year, will be counted toward the scoring and added to the scorecard as they occur. The remaining programs (men's and women's cross country, women's swimming and diving, men's golf) - in addition to women's tennis (if the teams do not meet head-to-head at any point) will battle for points that will be awarded on the basis of overall finish at their respective post-season championships. The next scheduled meeting between the two schools is slated for this Friday as the Lions host the Waves in women's volleyball action at 7 p.m. The Lions currently lead the Waves in the standings, 3.5-2.5, after earning a point in both the men's and women's cross country events at the 2009 WCC Championships. To learn more about the PCH Challenge and view the current scorecard, please visit http://www.lmulions.com/trads/PCH-Cup.html.
TOP OF THE CLASS... Redshirt-freshman Alaina Bergsma has not only held her own in the competitive and extremely talented West Coast Conference, she is also making a name for herself on the national level. Bergsma enters the week ranked tied for 11th in the nation, and first amongst her freshmen counterparts, in kills per set at 4.54. The closest freshman player in that category this year is Tulsa's Tyler Henderson at 4.44. The national leader is Siena senior Burgandy McCurty at 5.59 kills per set. Bergsma is also tied for sixth in the nation amongst freshmen players in aces per set with 36 aces at a rate of .40 per set. The native of Chandler, Ariz. is the LMU team-leader in attacks (1,039), kills (404), service aces (36), block solos (16), and points (473). So far this year, she has been named a CVU.com National Top Performer twice, a WCC Co-Player of the Week on November 9, the 2009 TCU Nike/Molten Invitational Tournament MVP, and an All-Tournament selection four times.
INSIDE THE LIONS... Freshman Alaina Bergsma will be this week's guest on "Inside the Lions." The show is slated to air on Thursday afternoon. "Inside the Lions" is a special look into LMU Athletics and its student-athletes in a 10 to 15 minute show hosted by a student-athlete, sophomore men's basketball guard Jarred DuBois. Airing roughly twice a month, the show highlights a student-athlete and gives an inside look to why LMU is such a special place. In addition, highlights from top games and other game day features are within the show. Take a look at the newest show or past shows at LMULions.com. It's all here thanks to Lions' All-Access.
LMU SPORTS WEEKLY... LMU's weekly podcast show, LMU Sports Weekly, will feature an interview with sophomore Alesha Young this week. The show is slated to air on Wednesday afternoon. Hosted by Jesse Kass, the show features radio highlights and recaps from recent games, interviews with student-athletes and coaches, and previews of upcoming events. All shows are now online at LMULions.com. Fans can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. Just search "LMU" in the iTunes Store.
DiG PiNK... For the past several years, NCAA women's volleyball programs across the country have done their part in the battle against breast cancer. LMU continued its involvement with its "DiG PiNK" match on Saturday, October 24 against San Francisco in Gersten Pavilion. This year marked the third consecutive year that LMU hosted a match to raise awareness and funds for the fight against breast cancer. Donations, which will benefit the Side-Out Foundation, can be made on-line by visiting LMU's team page at www.side-out.org/application/teams/team_page/1213. So far, LMU has raised more than 1,800 dollars.
LION TRACKS... LMU won the last two sets of a match against Gonzaga on Thursday night en route to earning a 24-26, 25-9, 17-25, 25-23, 15-10 victory over the Bulldogs in Gersten Pavilion. The Lions, who hit .294 as a team, were led by freshman Alaina Bergsma with a career-high 32 kills. The native of Chandler, Ariz. hit .268 over the course of the five sets, teaming the kills with two service aces, 17 digs and a block solo for a double-double. Joining Bergsma with double-doubles on Thursday were sophomores Ariana Covington (11 kills and 16 digs) and Alesha Young (51 assists and 10 digs). Covington also posted three service aces in the victory, with all three coming down the stretch in the deciding fifth set. Juniors Becky Stehling and Megan Nash played extremely well for LMU, as Stehling hit .435 with 13 kills, three service aces, three block solos and one block assist. Nash, a local product from Manhattan Beach, Calif., posted a .421 hitting percentage with 10 kills and two block solos.
Bergsma added 28 more kills and hit .522 (28-4/46) to lead LMU to a sweep of Portland, 25-19, 26-24, 28-26, on Saturday afternoon in Gersten Pavilion. The Lions hit a blistering .393 on the match, second this season only to a .459 mark against Grambling State to begin the year. Joining Bergsma, who added 12 digs to record a double-double, offensively were Covington and Stehling. Covington contributed 14 kills and three service aces en route to a .306 hitting percentage. Stehling, who has led the team in hitting percentage throughout the 2009 campaign, collected six kills and committed just one error for a .417 mark. Young set the potent LMU offense on Saturday, dishing-out 43 assists to help the Lions to the stellar hitting percentage.
FOLLOW THE LIONS ONLINE... Log on to www.LMULions.com for all the latest info on the Lions, including updated schedules, rosters, player bios, and more. Don't forget to also sign up to follow the Lions on Facebook (Facebook.com/LMULions) and Twitter (Twitter.com/LMULions). All LMU home matches, and the majority of the matches on the road, will be broadcast live via Gametracker. In addition, in conjunction with Stretch Internet and Lions' All-Access, all LMU home matches will be broadcast with both audio and video live online at www.LMULions.com. Just visit the Lion volleyball page, click on schedule, and click on the links located on the right side of the schedule for that particular match. All broadcasts will be archived within 72 hours of their original airing and will include both the pre-game and post-game shows.
COMING TO A GAME?... Fans, come cheer on the Lions this year in Gersten Pavilion. LMU will host 14 home matches this season, including six matches during LMU's Crowne Plaza LAX Tournament from September 11-12. To reserve your tickets today, please contact the LMU Ticket Office at (310) 338-LION. Tickets are also available at the Ticket Office prior to the start of the match. When traveling to the venue, please remember that the Loyola Marymount University campus is located in Westchester at One LMU Drive, approximately four miles north of the Los Angeles International Airport. Fans traveling to LMU must use the main entrance off of Lincoln Blvd. on LMU Drive. Those seeking handicap parking must also use the main entrance, where they can get directions from the guard at the front gate. Gersten's doors open one hour before the start of the match.
ACE, ACE, BABY... LMU enters the week ranked first in the WCC in aces per set (1.30) and total number of aces (120). Leading the charge for LMU is freshman Alaina Bergsma, who leads the WCC in total aces (36) and is second in aces per set with .40. Collecting a season-high 11 aces against Gonzaga on November 5, the Lions have posted 10 or more aces in a single match on four different occasions this year, including the match against the Bulldogs, back-to-back matches against TCU (10) and Idaho (10) on August 29 and September 4, and September 15 versus Cal State Northridge (10). The Lions have managed three or more aces in 19 of their 25 matches this season, and have been held to no aces just twice, at Pepperdine on October 17 and at Saint Mary's on October 29.
REMEMBER...IT'S JUST A NUMBER... LMU will play 12 matches this year against teams that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament. With success comes a ranking, and the Lions should see their fair share of ranked opponents this season. So far, LMU is 0-4 against ranked foes this year, falling in three sets to then-No. 9 UCLA on September 5, then-No. 20 UC Irvine in four on September 12, then-No. 20 San Diego in a five-set thriller on October 1, and then in three sets to the same Toreros on October 31, this time as USD carried a No. 19 ranking. Rankings have been nothing short of perfect in the recent past when predicting LMU's fate against ranked opponents, as the Lions have dropped 22 consecutive matches against those teams. The last Lion victory against a ranked opponent came on October 5, 2006 at Santa Clara, as the Lions earned a sweep of the then-No. 12 Broncos.
The women's volleyball match against Pepperdine on Friday at 7 p.m. is this week's "Team LMU" event. "Team LMU" was created to generate awareness and excitement for LMU sporting events on game days. Staff and students are encouraged to wear LMU gear on designated "Team LMU" days and to attend the games. To view more information about the current and future "Team LMU" events, please visit www.LMULions.com/teamlmu.
