By Jill Oberly
Staff Writer
Topsy-turvy.
Just as quickly as the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team claimed the top spot in the rankings, it slipped a notch on the totem pole as it slid from No. 1 to No. 2 after suffering an upset by No. 15 ranked Pacific at the start of a five-match road trip. But two huge wins at BYU helped get things back on track.
In the Pacific loss, Pepperdine outblocked the Tigers by a 15-11 margin, with senior middle blocker Chris Van Reusen leading the team with seven blocks. The Waves recorded a hitting percentage of .273 and held the Tigers to a team attack mark of .192. Pepperdine was hurt by a number of service errors, 25 in total, to match 25 hitting errors.
However, the Waves seemed to regain their composure and the strength of their attack playing a solid match the next night, Feb. 22, against the Stanford Cardinal. Senior outside hitter Lance Walker led the Waves with 19 kills.
Senior setter Beau Daniels was central to the Waves’ balanced attack, contributing 70 assists and a total of 10 digs, a team best.
While the rest of Pepperdine was basking under a tropical sun, the Waves’ found themselves in scenic Provo, Utah, during Spring Break facing defending NCAA champs BYU. In two close matches before more than 3,000 Cougar fans, the Waves outlasted BYU 31-29, 35-33, 32-30, Friday night March 1 and 30-26, 34-32, 30-21 Saturday night March 2.
“(Friday) was a fabulous match,” head coach Marv Dunphy said. “They played well. All games went into overtime. It was an exciting match to play.”
The sheer volume of Cougar fans could have posed an intimidating threat to the Waves, but Dunphy was not phased. “I would always take the bigger crowd.” Dunphy said. “The more the better. And the tougher the better. I would be worried if we were playing and there was no one there cause then it would be just like practice.”
The wins ended a six-match losing streak in Provo for the Waves that dated back to the 1993 season. With the wins, the Waves improved to 15-4 overall and 10-2 in MPSF play while the Cougars dropped to 11-5 overall and 9-5 in MPSF action.
Rooney lead the team Friday night with 17 kills. Middle blocker Keenan recorded 12 kills and two service aces, and Van Reusen had a match high total of 7 blocks.
The Waves ended their five-match road trip on a roll with a dominating victory over cross-town rival USC the next Thursday. The Waves won the match in three games by scores of 30-20, 30-15, 30-26. Leading the Waves in kills was Rooney with 18.
The Waves currently stand at 16-4 on the season and 11-2 in league play while rivals USC continued a dismal season dropping to 5-17 overall and 2-14 in MPSF action.
“At this point it is not the rankings that matter.” Dunphy said. “Whoever ends up with the best record gets to host the MPSF tournament. And we hope to have a good record at the end of the season.”
The Waves currently stand in second place along with UCLA. Both teams have dropped two matches in MPSF play. The Hawaii Rainbows, whom the Waves have yet to face, stand at No. 1 after only one loss to Long Beach State.
The Waves return to home court action in Firestone Fieldhouse this Friday and Saturday evening, hosting Long Beach State tomorrow night. The match marks the third time the teams have faced each other in 2002. Pepperdine has come out on top in both previous contests. The game begins at 7 p.m. Saturday the Waves will play another SoCal rival, UC San Diego, in Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves then host Hawaii March 22-23.
March 14, 2002