ATHLETICS | Loyola Marymount men’s basketball team improved to 9-1 at Hank’s House with Saturday’s PCH Cup win over rival Pepperdine. LMU came away with the 74-70 win over the Waves, splitting the season series. The Lions now hit the road with games at San Diego and Santa Clara this week, before returning to Gersten Pavilion on Jan. 31 to host Pacific for the annual Go Green game.
The LMU women’s team also played Pepperdine over the weekend, but fell short in overtime. Bree Alford and Chelsey Gipson each set career highs with Gipson tallying 29 points, while Alford grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds. This week’s schedule includes games at Pacific and at St. Mary’s before the Lions return to Gersten for home games on Jan. 31 against BYU and Feb. 2 against San Diego.
The West Coast Conference released their men’s and women’s tennis preseason polls and All-Conference picks. Both LMU teams were picked to finish second in the conference by the league’s head coaches. On the men’s side, Lukas Moenter was named to the 2019 All-WCC preseason men’s tennis team, while the sophomore pair of Veronica Miroshnichenko and Eva Marie Voracek earned spots on the 2019 All-WCC preseason women’s tennis team. Both programs opened their spring seasons last week and will each travel for their games this week for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The men travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to open with TCU, while the women stay local and face Florida International at UCLA.
The women’s water polo season begins this weekend, as the 16th-ranked Lions take on Chapman and Pomona-Pitzer in the Cal Baptist Mini Tournament on Saturday. Last week, LMU was ranked 16th nationally in the preseason CWPA Poll, and picked to finish second in the Golden Coast Conference coaches’ poll.
From the swim team, senior Abby Chopp garnered Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Swimmer of the Week recognition for her performance at the third annual Lions Cup held Jan. 11-12 at the Burns Aquatics Center. Chopp scored the most points for the LMU swim team in helping lead the Lions to victories over Pepperdine and Alaska Fairbanks. She won the 100 IM, took second in the 100-meter backstroke and finished third in the 200-meter backstroke. The senior also swam on all five of LMU’s A relay squads, helping them win the 800- and 200-meter freestyle relays. LMU faces the Nanooks again this weekend, heading up to compete in Alaska, Jan. 25-26.
Loyola Marymount volleyball is looking ahead to a strong 2019 season, as two of the team’s incoming freshman, Audrey Klemp and Rosie Booth were named Gatorade State Player of the Year award winners. This award recognizes success on and off of the court including, exceptional athletic excellence, academic achievements and demonstration of exemplary character.
LMU baseball teams’s full slate of events for Jan. 26, including the Alumni Game and Casino Night, is fast approaching. The Lions are set to begin at 10:30 a.m. from Page Stadium, with batting practice for the Alumni Game prior to a noon first pitch. The festivities continue on Saturday night, as LMU baseball program will host the seventh annual LMU Baseball Casino Night at the Westin Los Angeles Airport. Doors open at 5 p.m. with Casino Dealing from 6-10 p.m., and poker tournament running from 6:30-10:30 p.m.
The Casino Night is open to anyone interested in playing or watching, and participants do not need to be LMU alumni. A new wrinkle added to this year’s event: if you participated in last year’s poker tournament and bring a guest who did not participate, both of your first re-buys in this year’s tourney are free. Online registration will be open until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 24, and can be accessed here.
