Loyola Women’s Volleyball Team Is Preseason Pick to Win WCC Title

The Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball team has been picked as preseason favorite in the West Coast Conference in a poll of league coaches.

The Lions received five of eight first-place votes. Pepperdine and Santa Clara were picked to finish second, San Diego fourth, Gonzaga fifth, St. Mary’s sixth, Portland seventh and San Francisco eighth.

The Lions, who started practice Wednesday, open the season Sept. 16 against sixth-ranked USC.

Loyola returns four starters and three players who were named among Volleyball Monthly’s top 50 freshmen.

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Michelle Kwan of Torrance will be the featured skater in the Jubilee On Ice at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Culver Ice Arena in Culver City.

Kwan, 13, won the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival title. Last year she was the youngest skater competing at the senior level in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships.

Tickets are $12. Information: (310) 377-9601.

The Phoenix Rising Expo, a weekend conference for women in various industries including sports, will be staged Aug. 20-22 at the Westin Hotel in Westchester.

A series of workshops will be part of the agenda and a panel of professional women athletes is scheduled to speak.

Information: (213) 913-2667 or (818) 955-7020.

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The L.A. International Tae Kwon Do Championships are scheduled for Aug. 28-29 at Loyola Marymount’s Gersten Pavilion. The event will feature the U.S. black belt championships.

Information: (310) 278-2030.

The Southern California Open Table Tennis Championships are scheduled for Sept. 11-12 at the Mira Costa High boys’ gym.

The event is sanctioned by the United States Table Tennis Assn. and is open to beginners as well as advanced players.

Deadline for registration is Sept. 7. Fees vary from $2-$7, depending on division. Information: (310) 545-5621, Ext. 321.

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The city of Inglewood Recreation and Community Services Department is sponsoring a basketball camp for girls 11 to 16.

The camp, limited to the first 40 girls, starts Monday and ends Sept. 3. Camp hours are 3 to 7 p.m. daily.

Participants will receive a T-shirt, notebook, player profile card and a certificate of participation. Cost is $35. Information: (310) 412-5504.

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Chiquita Gonzalez of Mexico City is scheduled to meet Pablo Tiznado of Sinaloa, Mexico, in a 10-round flyweight bout Aug. 28 at the Forum.

Gonzalez (35-2, 26 knockouts) will be making his first start at 112 pounds. Tiznado is 14-5-2 with six KOs.

Sylmar’s Gabriel Ruelas, the World Boxing Council’s top-ranked 130-pounder, is scheduled to fight Upland’s Ben Lopez. Ruelas is 33-2 with 16 KOs and Lopez is 20-11-1 with 14 KOs.

In a rematch of a 1991 bout, Paul Banke (21-7, 11 KOs) of San Bernardino will fight Antonio Ramirez (14-4-1, seven KOs) of Los Angeles. Banke won the ’91 fight by decision.

In a battle of Mexico City boxers for the North American Boxing Federation super flyweight title, Marco Barrera (26-0, 18 KOs) will meet Eduardo Ramirez (25-13-4, nine KOs).

The card is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.