The Waves hosted and won the Asics Classic in the Firestone Fieldhouse Sept. 11 through Sept. 13 hosting Army UC Riverside and Seattle University in the three-day tournament.
On Friday Sept. 11 Army defeated UC Riverside in four games 25-19 25-27 25-14 and 25-21 while the Waves swept Seattle 25-15 25-20 and 25-16.
Pepperdine’s match against Seattle set a milestone for head coach Nina Matthies and the entire volleyball program. In her 27th year as head coach Matthies recorded her 500th career win as the Waves swept Seattle 25-15 25-20 and 25-16.
Sophomore outside hitter Lilla Frederick led the Waves offensively against Seattle with 13 kills three digs and one ace while sophomore libero Stevi Robinson led the Waves defensively by digging 19 balls and serving one ace.
Seattle was led by sophomore outside hitter Cristin Richards who had 15 kills and three digs during the match.
Friday closed with Army and Pepperdine victories and UC Riverside and Seattle losses.
On Saturday evening Pepperdine lost to Army in the only five game match of the tournament 15-25 25-21 27-25 15-25 and 15-8.
In game two the Waves and the Black Knights went point-to-point until the score tied at 18. At that point Army pulled ahead and closed the game 25-21.
Momentum from game two carried over for Army and they led the third game at 20-15 over the Waves when a timeout was called by Matthies.
While in the huddle Matthies gave her team some crucial advice
“Nina said we should play to win rather than play not to loose said senior setter Kiah Fiers. Frederick had similar thoughts and said, staying positive” was a very important mindset for the women as they tried to turn the game around.
After the Waves exhausted their timeout they came onto the court ready to fight for control of the game.
The Waves scored nine points while the Army only gained four forcing an Army timeout at a score tied 24-24. The whole gym was standing in support of their teams. Despite the Waves’ comeback the Army took the third game 27-25.
In the fourth set the Waves carried over momentum from the end of game three and had the Army panicked at 8-3 forcing an early Army time out. The Waves won the fourth set 25-15 thanks to the lead earned early in the game.
The game was close with the Waves down at 7-8 when it was time to switch sides of the court in game five. After the switch the Army pulled off two key blocks and solid back-row defense preventing the Waves from closing the gap in the score.
Saturday ended with the Waves losing the final game to the Army 8-15.
The last day of the tournament Sept. 13 hosted Army vs. Seattle and Pepperdine vs. UC Riverside.
Seattle swept by the Waves previously in the tournament defeated first-seed Army in three games 25-19 25-9 and 26-24 giving the Waves an opportunity to win the tournament.
The Waves beat UC Riverside later Sunday afternoon 25-22 25-22 and 26-24 thus winning the Asics Classic.
Fiers directed the Waves’ offense with 86 assists while Stevi Robinson led the team with 18 digs.
The Waves began the first game against UC Riverside down 3-9 due to unforced errors caused by faulty communication. But after a timeout the Waves closed the six-point gap to 11-10 forcing a Riverside time out. The Highlanders were unable to recover and the Waves won the first game 25-22.
Frederick and freshman middle blocker Victoria Aldelhelm took control early in the second game to give the Waves a 7-1 lead over the Highlanders preventing them from closing the gap and forcing them to lose the second game 25-22.
The final game of the Asics Classic was taken by Pepperdine 26-24 when the Waves initiated a crowd-stirring comeback after being down 21-24.
Even though the Waves did win the tournament overall coach Matthies thought the Waves could have played much more solid volleyball over the weekend “[Tournament play] wasn’t particularly our best effort Matthies said. We’ll take the two wins but the loss to Army was inexcusable.”
Despite the loss to Army the Waves still won two out of their three games. “You’re never not going to take a win Matthies said.
After claiming the Asics Classic, the Waves’ record stands at 7-2.
The Waves currently ranked No. 25, lost to UCLA, No. 7, yesterday in a four game set, 26-24, 14-25. 15-25 and 22-25.
The match, scheduled to start at 7 p.m. was delayed due to the lack of referees. The first ball was served at 7:57 p.m, shortly after two officials arrived to start the game.
Frederick and senior outside hitter, Rachel Grochmal, both led the Waves with 13 kills each throughout the match.
The Waves travel to Honolulu, HI to take on Hawaii University on Sept. 18 and 19.