Women’s soccer
The women’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss on Saturday against UCLA in a pre-season exhibition match at home. Despite being ahead 1-0 the Waves lost the match in the last 10 minutes with UCLA scoring both of their goals in the final minutes. As preseason play the team’s goal was to get the majority of players time on the field. (top) Freshman defender Ana Alvarado showed promise in the attacking end breaking through the Bruin defense a few times. (bottom) Sophomore forward Anisa Guajardo an instrumental player in the Waves’ offensive play last season continued her play-making role for the team. Disappointed about the loss Head Coach Tim Ward is looking forward to the fall season claiming that he knows the team has promise and come the fall season will be more cohesive and organized.
Men’s baseball
Sophomore Zach Vincej slides into home against Brigham Young University this weekend as the baseball team posted one win and three losses. BYU defeated Pepperdine 5 – 4 and 8 – 3 on Friday and Saturday respectively and then the Waves rallied back on Sunday to win 5 – 3. The Waves then faced Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and lost 13 – 3 at Fullerton. The Waves next travel to Portland for a three-game series Friday April 8 at 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Men’s golf finishes 8th
The Pepperdine men’s golf team placed 8th out of 14 teams Tuesday at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin Texas. Pepperdine sophomore Johnny Mac Arthur also posted a career-best finish finishing in eighth place.
The Waves shot 312-300-304 over Monday and Tuesday at the par-71 University of Texas Golf Club for a total of 916. Thirty-six holes were played Monday and 18 finished up the tournament Tuesday.
Of the seven teams to finish better than the Waves six were in Golfstat’s top 50 and four were in the top 20. A rainy Monday and winds throughout the tournament made playing conditions a bit more difficult. The weather helped to contribute to only two schools being able to break 900.
Mac Arthur had a previous best finish of a tie for 11th place at The Prestige at PGA West last fall. He shot an even-par 71 on Tuesday which was the best round by any Wave for the tournament. Mac Arthur started two-over after 11 holes but came back to sink three birdies over the next five holes. His scores improved each round going 76-74-71 for a total of an 8-over 221 in the tournament.
Every player finished above par for the tournament; Mac Arthur was one of only nine players to be over by only single digits.
Senior Andrew Putnam tied for 35th place at 232 and senior Andrew Widmar and junior Josh Anderson tied for 43rd place at 234. Freshman Parker Page took 75th place at 246. Anderson and Widmar both had three birdies during their final rounds.
Pepperdine hits the road again this weekend for the last tournament of the regular season at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. The West Coast Conference Championships will follow April 18 and 19.
Women’s golf places 10th at ASU
Pepperdine’s women’s golf team finished with the second-best round of the day and was one of just four schools to break 300 during Sunday’s third and final round of the PING/ASU Invitational.
The Waves’ strong close to the tournament allowed them to pass four other teams and move from 14th place to 10th. Seventeen teams competed over the weekend.
Pepperdine managed this all without the help of their season scoring leader sophomore Danielle Kang who was competing at the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship on Thursday and Friday.
The nine schools finishing ahead of Pepperdine ranked among Golfstat’s top 36 teams with four in the top 10 and eight in the top 25.
The Waves’ final-round 297 at the par-72 Karsten Golf Course was just one stroke off of fifth-place Stanford’s best score for the day.
Individually three Waves managed to significantly better their places in the final standings with the help of strong finishes. Freshman Liv Cheng moved up 21 places senior Taylore Karle jumped 19 spots and freshman Grace Na advanced by 18.
Karle’s final-round even-par 72 was the best score of the tournament for the Waves. She also led Pepperdine in the final standings tying for 25th place with a 7-over 223 (73-78-72).
Na tied for 38th place at 226 while Cheng and junior Kaitlin both tied for 40th place at 227. Freshman Danielle Gillaspy tied for 74th place with a score of 235.
The Waves will next attempt to capture their 10th consecutive West Coast Conference championship April 18 and 19 in Hollister Calif.