SARAH SCHREFF/Photo Editor
DAVID NAKAGAMI
Assistant Sports Editor
Pepperdine opened West Coast Conference play by welcoming rival Loyola Marymount to Firestone Fieldhouse Saturday night. After dropping the first game 18-30, the Waves took care of the Lions 30-23, 30-26, 30-25 to win the match and start off their conference schedule on the right foot.
The first game wasn’t the way the Waves wanted to open their conference schedule. Despite scoring the first point of the match on a service ace by sophomore Rachel Lumsden, Pepperdine quickly found themselves in a 13-26 hole. A valiant but vain effort by the Waves put the final score 18-30 in favor of LMU, and just like that, the Waves were down 0-1.
Lumsden paced the Waves’ attack with four kills and three digs. As a team, the Waves were held to a 0.036 hitting percentage while the Lions smacked 0.344 in the game.
“We kind of came out a little shaky,” said Kiah Fiers, a sophomore. “It took us a little while to get warmed up.”
After a lackluster performance in the first game, Pepperdine returned the favor to the Lions. The Waves attack regained the focus it seemed to have temporarily lost, outscoring LMU 9-2 in a stretch to widen the gap to 19-10. Pepperdine cruised through the rest of the game, sealing the game and tying the match 1-1 by a score of 30-23.
Lumsden and junior Julie Rubenstein combined for 11 kills and Fiers’ 13 assists helped the Waves offense return to form.
The third game proved to be more closely-contested than those that preceding it. The Waves and the Lions traded blows early, but LMU managed to pull away to a score of 9-15. However, with Rubenstein serving, the orange and blue rallied for seven straight points, erasing their deficit and overtaking the lead at 22-19. From there, the Waves closed out the game 30-26 with the Lions clawing close behind. The pivotal win put the Waves ahead 2 games to 1, shifting the momentum in favor of Pepperdine.
Pepperdine started off the fourth game behind, like the two previous games. And like those games, the Waves fought back to come out victorious. Looking up at the Lions by as many as four points early in the game, Pepperdine steadily worked their way into the game and on top on the scoreboard. After an LMU hit into the net tied the score at 14, the Waves never looked back, later scoring five straight points to cement their first conference win.
For the game, outside hitters Lumsden, Rubenstein and freshman Kristen Seaton totaled 48 kills, accounting for 57 points. In addition, sophomore Kayla Walker provided a critical spark off the bench, hitting a preposterous 0.571 with 5 kills.
It meant a lot to the team to win the first conference game, especially at home, said Fiers. Head Coach Nina Matthies could not agree more.
“It’s really important to start conference off with a win,” Matthies said. “We really need to win our conference to get into the postseason.”
The Waves (9-4, 1-0 WCC), currently riding a four-match winning streak, look to continue their dominance Thursday on the road against the Bulldogs of Gonzaga.
09-29-2007
