LINDSEY BESECKER
Staff Writer
The season was off to a perfect start for the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team until they ran into a Bruin buzz saw at No.-1 UCLA. The No.-3 Waves started their winning ways with a 3-1 win over No.-8 Stanford after a rallying win over No.-9 University of Pacific to hold a 2-0 record on the season.
“I was pleased to go on the road and play two good teams,” Head Coach Marv Dunphy said. “We had two good battles. We were tested in both places, and I was pleased that we were able to pass those tests.”
The Waves will play their final match in this four-match road trip Friday when they travel to Irvine to face the tough Anteaters of University of California, Irvine. The No. 12 Anteaters have had a challenging schedule this season, facing No. 1 UCLA twice. The Bruins were victorious on both occasions. However, the Anteaters defeated No. 10 University of California, Santa Barbra, earlier in January.
The first home match of the season is Jan. 27 at Firestone Fieldhouse. Pepperdine will face No.-5 Long Beach State University, which has proved to be a tough competitor in the past. The 49ers are 3-2 on the season after losing to UCLA and UCSB earlier in the season. CSULB defeated UCSB in the first match-up, but lost in four games in the second meeting. They also recorded victories over Stanford and No.-6 California State University, Northridge.
The UCLA game proved to be more of a test than these Waves could handle. UCLA downed Pepperdine in three sets at Pauley Pavilion, showing exactly why the Bruins were the preseason No.-1 team in the nation.
UCLA dominated the first two games of the match, holding Pepperdine to just 18 and 21 points in the respective sets. However, the third match was hotly contested until Pepperdine gave the Bruins an 18-14 lead. The Waves couldn’t come back and ended up losing the third and final set 30-27.
Sean Rooney led all players with 15 kills and added a pair of aces. However, his efforts weren’t nearly enough for the Waves, who dropped to 2-1 on the young season.
John Parfitt was the only other Wave to record double-figure kills with 10.
The Waves finished the match with a .108 attack percentage compared to UCLA’s .414 attack percentage. That was the lowest percentage of the season for Pepperdine.
Pepperdine traveled to Stanford Saturday night for a real battle and, after losing the first game, fought to take the next three games and win the match 28-30, 30-24, 31-29, 30-20.
Senior outside hitter Rooney, last year’s Volleyball Player of the Year by Asics and Volleyball Magazine, led the way with 24 kills and also recorded 12 digs for his first double-double this season.
The rest of the Waves roster played well and came up big against the Cardinal. Sophomore middle blocker John Parfitt contributed 16 kills and senior setter John Mayer added 12 kills. Junior middle blocker Andy Hein had 10 kills to round out the Waves with double-digit kills.
“That (team contribution) was huge,” Dunphy said. “We don’t win that match if John Parfitt doesn’t get the blocks, the kills and the digs that he got. Andy Hein, John Mayer, and (Sean) Rooney … It was pretty much a balanced attack. Ideally that’s what we strive for, and yet Sean is, it’s no secret that were going to ride him at times.”
Hein and sophomore middle blocker Tom Hulse had seven block assists each to lead the defensive attack.
The day before, the Waves officially opened their season with a 3-2 win over Pacific in Stockton, Calif. Pepperdine won the first two games 30-27, 30-28, but the Tigers gained momentum and took the next two games 30-23, 30-25 to force a decisive fifth game. Pepperdine stepped up and won the final game 15-7 for the victory.
“You never apologize for winning,” Dunphy said. “We didn’t play as well as we were capable of playing, but they had something to do with that. They had a couple players that were just outstanding. We came back from some adversity. John Mayer had some real key blocks in the fifth set and that kind of turned it around for us,” Dunphy added.
Rooney came up big with 36 kills, the best on both teams. Mayer added 10 kills and seven digs.
Pepperdine started its season with a 3-0 win over Calgary in an exhibition match Jan. 7. It was supposed to host California Baptist University on Jan. 10, but the game was postponed because poor weather forced university officials to cancel classes for the day.
The Waves are at 2-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference. Pepperdine will likely drop in the rankings thanks to the loss to UCLA, but a solid start in league is what the Waves needed.
“The league is as strong and as even as I’ve seen it,” Dunphy said.
“There are probably seven schools with all their players back and that have some talent. That’s huge.”
The Waves will open up at home against Long Beach State on Jan. 27 and UC San Diego on Jan. 28.
01-20-2005
