On Oct 22 the Waves were tied for first in the West Coast Conference with a 4-2 record but a loss to the San Francisco Dons and the Santa Clara Broncos on Oct. 24 put the Waves back at 4-4 and took away their top seed in the WCC.
The Waves lost to the San Francisco Dons in a five-set match Thursday 25-20 26-28 26-24 26-28 12-15 with junior outside hitter Lila Frederick leading the Waves offensively with 17 kills and four important aces.
Game one against USF was played point by point until 14-14 when the Waves took off with Caitlin Racich serving impassable balls to the Dons. Frederick helped keep Racich serving by blocking two balls taking the score to 19-14. At 22-18 Waves middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm pounded a Don over-passed ball straight down almost bouncing the ball under her feet as she landed.
Sophomore libero Stevi Robinson set Racich for the kill from the back row ending the game with a solid Pepperdine victory at 25-20.
In game two Frederick and Adelhelm made an early block to keep the Waves ahead at 12-9. Another block by Adelhelm brought the score to 13-10. At 15-12 the Dons made a five point run and followed the run with two blocks making the score 17-19 Waves down.
A Pepperdine block and an ace by Frederick tied the score at 20-20 but serving errors by Grochmal and Robinson and two crucial Don blocks ended the game with a Don victory at 28-26.
In the third game of the evening the Dons caught an early lead and forced a Pepperdine timeout at 13-18. The Waves began to close the gap in the score but two errors by Robinson and an USF ace brought the score to 18-22.
Two kills by middle blocker Kim Hill a kill by Racich and an ace by Grochmal brought the Waves ahead 25-24. With a block by Hill the Waves won the third set 26-24.
The fourth set went point for point without either team gaining any significant leads. At 26-26 Alycia Cox of USF hit two kills in a row to win the game for the Dons 26-28.
The last set of the night began poorly for the Waves. At 2-6 the Waves called a timeout to find a way to get back into the game. With a kill by Hill and an ace by Robinson the Waves tied the score at 8-8. The Dons responded by scoring four points while Pepperdine only gained two.
The Waves called their final timeout for the match at 10-12. Another kill by Hill brought the Waves as close as 12-13 but USF’s Cox scored the final point to close the match at 12-15 a Pepperdine loss.
On Saturday the Waves hosted the Santa Clara Broncos in another five-game match that gave Pepperdine its fourth loss in the WCC 16-25 18-25 25-20 25-17 and 15-17.
After the Waves scored the first point of the match they would not see the lead for the rest of the game. Santa Clara responded to Pepperdine’s first point by scoring the next four in a row. Santa Clara scored a nine-point lead over the Waves at 21-13 effectively sealing the win for the Broncos.
The second game of Saturday’s match ended not much differently than the first. Pepperdine had the lead at 8-6 but the Broncos responded with five straight points. The Broncos had another five point run to make the score 19-13 and raised their lead by eight points at 23-15. The Waves lost the second game 18-25.
Kills by Hill and sophomore opposite Kristen Seaton and an ace by Adelhelm made the score 7-3. The Waves would not lose the lead for the rest of the set but the Broncos got close to tying the score up at 14-13. The Waves scored the next four points in a row and took the third set 25-20.
In the fourth set a block by Seaton and a Racich kill put the Waves ahead at 8-6. The Waves enlarged their lead even further at 16-11 thanks to two kills by Adelhelm and a kill and an ace by Grochmal. The fourth set ended at 25-17 with the Waves ready to fight the Broncos for the fifth set.
The Waves began the fifth set down 5-1 but eventually evened out the score at 13-13. The Waves would not see the lead again in this match as they fought to 15-15. Two kills by the Broncos finished the five-set match.
The Wave’s Wednesday match against San Diego was televised on ESPNU.
They will continue their season with an away game against Saint Mary’s Oct. 31.
