By Joann Groff
Assistant Sports Editor
The Waves have hit double digits.
Armed with a 10-game winning streak, the men’s volleyball team is unstoppable, remaining the only unbeaten team in conference.
The team that blemished their now 11-1 record, University of California Irvine, was put back in its place Saturday when the Waves swept the Anteaters at Crawford Hall in Irvine.
“It wasn’t payback,” sophomore setter John Mayer said. “We just knew we could win.”
Pepperdine is now ranked No.1 in the nation.
“We are a different team than the one who played UCI at the start of the season,” Mayer said. “To see how much we’ve improved and grown in a month and a half is pretty exciting.”
Now they look on to bigger things. Their biggest competition, No. 2 University of Hawaii, snagged the national title from Pepperdine last year.
These two volleyball powerhouses will face one another again for the first time since the NCAA national championships when Hawaii comes to Malibu next week for two games.
“They’re the defending national champions,” Head Coach Marv Dunphy said. “They lost only one player from last year’s team. In my book they’re still No. 1.”
In the meantime, the Waves will reflect on their dominance over UCI, and use that to carry them through USC and on to Hawaii.
Pepperdine defeated its fellow Mountain-Pacific Sports Federation team, UCI, in three games with scores of 30-27, 30-24, 30-23.
“I think we were in control the whole match,” Mayer said. “We played well all around. I don’t think they played their best, but we definitely had something to do with it.”
The Waves coach agreed the players read the Anteaters’ game well and adapted quickly when they needed to.
“We played well,” Dunphy said. “We took care of their tendencies well and got them on their heels.”
Senior middle blocker Brad Keenan had a team best three service aces and seven each of blocks and kills.
“I felt we served well and blocked well,” Keenan said. “We just got them out of their game . . . We had better blocking and ball control this time and we were a tougher serving team. It’s helped playing together for one more month.”
Dunphy says the win is even more commendable because the team was away from home.
“We beat a good team on the road,” Dunphy said. “That’s huge. We love playing at home, so it was good to take care of them on their court.”
Coach Dunphy says the team played well and is happy about the wins, but that is not all that matters.
“There are standards that we have on this team,” he said. “If we win or lose is only one factor. It’s an important one, but it’s only one standard. I’m pleased we’ve won so many games but there are still so many things we’re trying to get better at.”
Before the big Hawaii match-up, the Waves will face USC at the Firestone Fieldhouse. Dunphy says this match will be tougher than the Waves’ last sweep of the Trojans.
“We beat them in the first match of league play,” Dunphy said. “Basically I thought USC shot themselves in the foot. They made so many mistakes. They’ve corrected them the last couple of matches. Now they have a solid line-up, a solid team and we’ll have to play well against them.”
Keenan is confident that his team will keep growing — they are getting better every day, with every game.
“We seem to be getting better every time we play,” Keenan said.
February 20, 2003