Pepperdine’s women’s volleyball team has been predicted to finish in the top three in the West Coast Conference this season based on a preseason poll by the league’s coaches. If predictions are correct this would be the Waves’ 21st top-three finish.
In her 28th season as head coach Nina Matthies has five starters returning to the team three of whom were a part of last season’s All-Conference Team. Junior middle blocker Kim Hill who led the WCC with a .425 hitting percentage and ranked fifth in the nation last year is expected to be a dominant force.
Sophomore middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm is also returning this season. She earned All-WCC honorable mention accolades and was named to the WCC All-Freshman team after finishing fifth in the conference with a .330 hitting percentage.
Hill and Adelhelm will be joined by junior libero Stevi Robinson who finished last season with an all-time best of 4.74 digs-per-set average. She ranked third in the league last year.
Besides the five returning starters there are six returning non-starters and one redshirt. Three newcomers outside hitter Emily Cook outside hitter Kelley Larsen and setter Kellie Woolever will also be joining the team this season.
Despite their ranking and strong roster the team struggled in their opening road matches against New Mexico and Stanford on August 27 and 28 respectively. The Waves fell to New Mexico 3-0 Friday night and were unable to bounce back falling to Stanford 3-1 on Saturday. They took on Tulane Saturday evening and clinched their first win of the season sweeping the Green Waves 3-0.
San Diego clinched the top spot in this season’s preseason poll followed by Saint Mary’s. Santa Clara was picked fourth after Pepperdine who was ranked third. San Francisco Gonzaga Portland and Loyola Marymount took up the bottom four spots of the preseason poll.
The Waves will be trying to improve upon last season in which they finished with an overall record of 16-11 and a conference record of 9-5.
The Waves will open the 2010 season on Friday Aug. 27 in Albuquerque N.M. for the MCM Elegant Lobo Classic. Their first home matches will be Sept. 3 and 4 when the Waves host the Asics Classic at the Firestone Fieldhouse.