Lion Volleyball Team Travels to Colorado

The Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball team will be looking for its first victory of the season today when it plays Mississippi in the Colorado State tournament at 3 p.m.

Mississippi, which competes in the Southeastern Conference, was 13-18 in 1991. Loyola will also play two games on Saturday in the four-team round-robin tournament. At 9 a.m., the Lions meet Sam Houston State and at 5 p.m. they will play Colorado State.

Sam Houston was 22-14 and Colorado State 19-12 in 1991.

Loyola, ranked 29th in a preseason poll by Volleyball Monthly, lost its opener to No. 4 Stanford, 15-2, 15-4, 15-13.

After the tournament in Fort Collins, Colo., the Lions will play host to Cal State Fullerton in a nonconference match at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s soccer team will open the season Saturday with a nonconference match at NCAA Division I opponent Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m.

The Matadors, who were 13-6-1 in 1991, defeated San Diego State, 1-0, in a scrimmage on Tuesday.

Northridge, which leads the series, 14-8-2, is expected to be led offensively by forward Danny Daniels and midfielder Armando Valdivia. Daniels had 13 goals and 32 points and Valdivia had eight goals and 25 points in 1991.

Dominguez Hills, which was 8-10-1 in 1991, is expected to be led by senior midfielder Gerardo Yepez. He led the team with 14 goals, five assists and 33 points in 1991. Junior forward Masahiro Fujiki and sophomore forward Mike Hall also return. Each scored 13 points in 1991.

Defenders Keith Martin and Raman Bridwell and midfielders Matt Swindle and William Leal also return, as does junior goalie Erick Miseroy, who started 14 games and had a 1.88 goals-against average in 1991.

On Wednesday, Dominguez Hills will play perennial Division I power UCLA at 8 p.m.

The Loyola Marymount men’s soccer team begins its season with home matches against Azusa Pacific at 4 p.m. Saturday and Pomona-Pitzer at 4 p.m. Monday.

With 13 of 20 games at home, Coach Peter Novakovic is hopeful that the Lions will be able to improve on a 3-14-1 record in 1991.

“Any advantage we can cling to is a plus, especially home field advantage,” Novakovic said. “Last year we played a lot on the road, so being able to start at home should set a positive tone for the season.”

The Lions will benefit from the return of senior midfielder Jeff Van Gastel, who had two goals and five assists in 1991, and senior defender Jay Bevelhimer, junior defender Tim Bernard and junior forward Dannel Christian.

The Lions also have several newcomers: forward Trevor Ickes, a two-time All-Southern Section selection from Santa Ana Mater Dei High; defender William Gast from Cal State Bakersfield and midfielder Kevin Kynoch from Orange Coast College.

“The players that we have coming in are significantly better than the guys we had coming in four years ago,” Novakovic said. “We have the nucleus of young players to build a contender but we need additional support. I love being in the underdog role and being able to go out and surprise someone.”