MATT LLEWELLYN
Staff Writer
Courtesy of Ben Young/Ph. Ed.
The No. 2-ranked Pepperdine men’s volleyball team hopes to carry their momentum forward into Thursday night’s match against Long Beach State.
Last Friday, the Waves defeated University of California Irvine 3-1 (30-22, 28-30, 30 -24, 30-27) in a convincing fashion. Game one was handled fairly easily for the Waves. Freshman Jonathan Winder and junior Andy Hein controlled the game early with two massive blocks. The Waves out blocked the Anteaters by a 6.5-1.0 margin.
The Waves sealed game one while rallying off a 9-4 run. Game two was much more competitive and consisted of several lead changes. Irvine got out early on the Waves, leading 4-1. The Waves fought back with the help of two kills from senior Sean Rooney, which gave Pepperdine a 10-8 lead. Irvine answered with several aces and tied the game at 13 all. The Anteaters surged ahead giving the anteaters a 29-28 lead with the help of several kills from Irvine’s star Nick Spittle. UC Irvine went on to win game two changing the momentum and dominating at the net.
Game three appeared to be trouble for the Waves as they played behind most of the way, but they tied the game at 20 points a piece. The game was put into the hands of the senior leader John Mayer. With Mayer at the service line the waves went on a 4-0 run to win the game. The Waves recorded 19 kills on 25 attempts. Rooney contributed five while Hein added six kills for the waves.
Game four seemed to be difficult for both teams, neither was able to put any points on the board. But Pepperdine won the game with Rooney’s help, as the senior finished the game with his fifth ace of the night on match point.
Rooney ended the night with a game-high 20 kills with just one error on 41 swings. Hein also made a major contribution in tying his own personal best while recording 14 kills and eight blocks.
The match was by no means a walk for the Waves, but Pepperdine took the win by utilizing their height and controlling the middle. Winder also had another stellar performance recording 53 assists and 8 blocks. This was an especially meaningful victory for Winder, because it was in his hometown.
“I was excited to go home and play in front of my home crowd,” he said. “I had a lot of family and friends come out and support me. It was a very big win for us and it made it that much more special that I could share the win with my family.”
Pepperdine now focuses their attention on No.-5 Long Beach State University. Long Beach will come into Firestone Fieldhouse with (5-2, 3-1) record. Long Beach recently came off a victory (30-20, 30-19, 30-17) over the University of the Pacific Tigers. 49ers’ star Tyler Hildebrand netted 35 assists, six digs, two blocks, two aces and four kills. The Beach also received additional help from sophomore Teddy Liles as he contributed eight kills on 10 attempts for a .800 attack percentage.
The 49ers also defeated the Stanford University Cardinal Wednesday night at the Pyramid. Senior Yassi Sliti paced Long Beach in that match while recording 18 kills, six digs and two blocks.
The Waves must try and make it difficult for All-American setter Tyler Hildebrand in order to be successful against the 49ers Thursday night.
“I think it is very important that we serve tough because that way it will put their offense out of system,” said freshman Corey Spencer. “If their offense is out of system, Tyler Hildebrand will have a much more difficult time passing to his teammates. Their offense will become more predictable, which will allow us to get more blockers up.”
The Waves need to block the right side attack in order to be a national-title contender.
“I think we have to do a good job controlling their middle blockers, not allowing them to dominate us offensively,” said Winder.
Winder suffered a finger injury in practice a couple of weeks ago, but he received word that it is a sprained ligament and will take up to a month to fully recover.
01-27-2005
