W. Volleyball. Black, U.S. Women Win Pan Am Cup

June 17, 2013

LMU volleyball head coach Tom Black, serving as an assistant for the U.S. Women's Volleyball National Team, helped guide his squad to the 2013 Pan American Cup gold medal for the second consecutive year. Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) scored 15 points in sparking the U.S. Women's National Team to a 25-12, 25-20, 25-18 victory over the Dominican Republic Sunday evening in Lima, Peru, to capture the title.

Team USA, ranked No. 1 in the world by the FIVB, finished the tournament with a 5-0 record in its season-opening event under new head coach Karch Kiraly. The Americans have now won the Pan American Cup three times, including 2003 and 2012. Seven U.S. players competed in both the 2012 and 2013 gold-medal campaigns. Team USA is only the second country to successfully defend its title in the history of the intercontinental event, joining Cuba who won consecutive titles in 2004 and 2005. Meanwhile, Dominican Republic failed in its attempt to win its third tournament title and finished with its sixth silver medal.

After Dominican Republic opened the first set with a 4-2 lead, it was all U.S. in the frame as the Americans went on a 9-1 scoring run and later used a 6-0 run en route to a 25-12 victory. The Americans produced a 6-1 advantage in blocks the opening set. The second set was tight until the last six points with 11 lead changes. However, the U.S. changed leads for the final time after trailing 20-19 and scored the final six points for a 25-20 victory with Fawcett serving out the set with consecutive aces. Team USA charged out to a 7-2 lead in the third set, only to have Dominican Republic climb back to within one at 12-11. However, the U.S. regrouped to string together a 9-3 scoring run to take a commanding 21-14 advantage in closing the set at 25-18.

To read the complete release from USA Volleyball, please CLICK HERE.

2013 U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Roster for Pan American Cup
# - Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College
1 - Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Mich., Penn State)
7 - Cassidy Lichtman (OH, 6-1, Poway, Calif., Stanford)
8 - Lauren Gibbemeyer (MB, 6-2, St. Paul, Minn., Minnesota)
11 - Megan Hodge (OH, 6-3, Durham, N.C., Penn State)
12 - Kayla Banwarth (L, 5-10, Dubuque, Iowa, Nebraska)
14 - Nicole Fawcett (Opp, 6-4, Zanesfield, Ohio, Penn State)
16 - Kim Hill (OH, 6-4, Portland, Ore., Pepperdine)
17 - Lauren Paolini (MB, 6-4, Ann Arbor, Mich., Texas)
20 - Jenna Hagglund (S, 5-10, West Chester, Ohio, Washington)
22 - Rachael Adams (MB, 6-2, Cincinnati, Ohio, Texas)
24 - Kristin Hildebrand (OH, 6-1, Orem, Utah, Stanford)
25 - Kelly Murphy (Opp, 6-2, Wilmington, Ill., Florida)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Reed Sunahara, Tom Black
Technical Coordinator: Joe Trinsey
Physiotherapist: Jill Wosmek
Team Manager: Rob Browning

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W. Volleyball. Volleyball Announces 2013 Slate

June 19, 2013

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

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The LMU volleyball program, guided by fourth-year head coach Tom Black, recently released its 2013 schedule. The Lions will be looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. This year's schedule features 15 home contests, including six matches as part of a pair of tournaments hosted in Gersten Pavilion.

The competition will be tough for the Lions, as they will face seven opponents that reached the 2012 NCAA Tournament, including the five West Coast Conference teams that joined the Lions in the Tournament last year. In addition to BYU, San Diego, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara and Pepperdine, LMU will also host the College of Charleston and UCLA.

As it always does, the season will open with LMU's annual Alumnae Match on August 24 at 1 p.m. The Lions will then host a tournament the following weekend, welcoming North Texas, Albany and UCLA to campus for the first true weekend of competition.

The tournament portion of the 2013 slate continues on September 5 and 6 as the Lions travel to San Antonio, Texas for the University of Texas - San Antonio tournament that will also feature Texas A&M and Lamar. The Lions will then split tournament hosting duties with Long Beach State from September 12-14, inviting Long Beach State, Seattle, and College of Charleston into Gersten Pavilion for a final tune-up before West Coast Conference play begins.

The pursuit of the WCC crown begins at home on September 19 against San Francisco before the Lions play host to Santa Clara on September 21. The annual trip to the Northwest comes on September 26 and 28 as the Lions travel to Gonzaga and Portland to open the road portion of the conference slate.

A split week will see LMU playing at San Diego on October 3 before returning home to host defending WCC Champion BYU two days later. The Lions are back on the road the next week, traveling to Saint Mary's and WCC newcomer Pacific on October 10 and 12, respectively.

A pair of three-match home stands sandwich a road match at BYU on Halloween, as LMU will host Pepperdine (October 19), Portland (October 24) and Gonzaga (October 26) before closing the home portion of the regular season against San Diego (November 2), Pacific (November 7) and Saint Mary's (November 9).

The Lions will finish the 2013 regular season on the road, playing four matches away from Gersten Pavilion. A non-conference tilt with Cal State Bakersfield on November 13 gets the road trip going before LMU heads to PCH Cup rival Pepperdine (November 16), Santa Clara (November 21) and San Francisco (November 23) with hopes of earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

For the third year in a row, the LMU Scarf Season Ticket will be available for women's volleyball, along with seven other sports. For just $30 the Scarf Season Ticket allows the bearer entry to all regular-season home events for eight sports. To purchase your 2013-14 Scarf today, contact the LMU Athletics Ticket Office at 310-338-LION (5466).

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