With a 3-2 victory over LMU, the women’s volleyball team has won 18 straight this season, and an unprecedented 40 straight in the WCC.
By Lindsey Besecker
Assistant Sports Editor
Since the beginning of the season, it has been a goal for the No. 4 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team to finish conference undefeated. The team took one step closer to that goal Saturday with a 3-2 win against No. 17 Loyola Marymount University to improve its West Coast Conference record to 10-0.
With the win, the Waves extended their season-winning streak to 18 games. They also extended their WCC winning streak to 40 matches, a streak that dates back to the 2000 season. Pepperdine will look to continue those streaks over its last five matches of the season and into the NCAA tournament.
“Every single game, we don’t take it lightly,” junior Kristin Shultz said. “Our future lies in the games we play. We know that we’re good enough to beat (WCC teams), but we just have to follow through.
“(The games have) definitely been a battle,” she continued. “This year it just seems like everyone’s out to get us. RON HALL/UNIVERSITY
It’s a hard accomplishment.” PHOTOGRAPHER
Sophomore setter Melissa Melhorn
Head Coach Nina Matthies said that reacts to another Waves’ victory.
after the team finished conference
14-0 in 2001, a lot of people thought it would not happen again because of the strength of the conference. However, the Waves proved those people wrong by going undefeated in 2002 and hope for a repeat this season.
“If we could do it three years in a row, it would be a very good feat,” Matthies said. “We need to get by this weekend with no bobbles and then next weekend. We’ll take it a match at a time.”
Pepperdine will first host Portland on Friday at Firestone Fieldhouse. The team has not lost to Portland since the 1994 season, and earlier this season the Waves defeated the Pilots 3-0. They will then host Gonzaga University on Saturday night.
“I’m looking for us to have a very concentrated, focused match on both Friday and Saturday,” Matthies said.
Earlier this season, Pepperdine traveled to Gonzaga and won a close 3-2 match against the Bulldogs. Saturday’s match marks the final home conference game this season.
“It should be a pretty good weekend, as long as we don’t play like we did last time against Gonzaga,” senior outside hitter Katie Wilkins said.
The Waves played another close match last weekend as they defeated LMU 3-2 – 30-26, 19-30, 30-20, 25-30, 15-12. The see-saw match was tied at 10 all in the fifth game when sophomore outside hitter Katy Daly recorded three consecutive kills for the Waves.
Wilkins contributed 26 kills and two service aces, and senior middle blocker Lyndsey Hache added 15 kills and eight digs. Sophomore setter Melissa Mehlhorn recorded the team’s sole double-double with 58 set assists and 19 digs.
“It’s obviously a bog match for us,” Matthies said. “Loyola hadn’t lost at home yet this year. We knew they would be well prepared and ready to play.
“They picked up their game a little. We didn’t help ourselves with making unforced errors.”
After this weekend, Pepperdine will close out WCC play with matches at Santa Clara and University of San Diego. In previous matches this season, Pepperdine defeated the Broncos 3-1 and the Toreros 3-0. The final regular season match will place the Waves against No. 8 UCLA at Firestone Fieldhouse.
Wilkins said the UCLA match will help the team prepare for the caliber of teams it will face in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s actually going to be really good,” Wilkins said. “It’s probably one of our biggest matches of the year. It’s going to determine our seeding in the tournament.”
Matthies said that even though Pepperdine is ranked No. 4 nationally, the seeding for the tournament is the more important ranking. Pepperdine has placed a bid to have the first two matches at the Fieldhouse, but after that it will play matches on the road because the Fieldhouse is too small.
With No. 1 University of Southern California looking to get the top seed, it would probably stay in the West regionals and play at Cal State University Long Beach. The other three regional sites are in Nebraska, Florida and Hawaii. If USC stays in California, the Waves will play in one of the other states.
Wilkins said the team is going into the tournament with more confidence than it has in years past. Last year, Pepperdine lost to eventual NCAA champions USC in a regional Elite Eight match.
Earlier this season, the Waves faced USC and lost in three games. However, the players would like another chance against them in the postseason.
“I’m really excited about (the tournament),” Wilkins said. “I’d like to face (USC), maybe later in the tournament. I think we showed that we can hang with them as long as we don’t make too many mistakes hitting.”
November 13, 2003