Milo breaks record, Waves drop championship match to Cal at Golden Bear Invitational in Berkley.
ZACH ENGLUND
Staff writer
If you look at the standings you will see that the women’s volleyball team, currently ranked 20th in the nation, has an average record of 4-4. By that knowledge alone, some might assume that this year’s team is nothing special, but there is a story behind the record that all fans should recognize.
After coming very close to upsetting No.-7 Hawaii twice, followed by another tough loss against No.-8 Texas, they begrudgingly started the season 0-3. They responded with two consecutive wins against Long Island University and Cal Poly, giving them confidence and momentum that clearly carried over into the Golden Bear Invitational in Berkley.
Their first game of the tournament was against American on Friday, a game that proved to be somewhat challenging for the waves, but they ended up sweeping the Eagles 30-25, 30-24, 30-17 for their third win in a row.
Their next opponent was Colorado State on Saturday. Not exactly a walk in the park, but it appeared as though the Waves were in control and never doubted the outcome, beating the Rams soundly in four sets.
In the process of victory, senior middle blocker Sophia Milo blocked two shots, making her Pepperdine’s all-time leading shot blocker in women’s volleyball, surpassing Lisa Bevington’s (1985-88) career record of 423. Milo said she doesn’t have time to reflect on broken records during the season, but she is still taken back by the accomplishment.
“It’s such an honor to hold such a great record, because I know it’s been there for a long time,” she said. “To break it is a huge deal to me.”
Their win against Colorado State made it four straight for the Waves, giving them a full head of steam going into the championship match of the tournament against No.-13 Cal later that night.
The undefeated Bears (8-0) looked to make a statement right from the beginning, taking a 7-0 lead in the first set, putting the Waves in a hole they never dug out of. The second set seemed to be more of the same, as Cal took a 7-2 lead to start the game. Though the Waves fought back, scoring five straight points to pull it even, the Bears countered with a run of their own, scoring eight of the next nine points and eventually going on to win in almost identical fashion to the first set.
After Cal took a 1-0 lead in the third game, the Waves caught fire, scoring nine straight points and finally showing some life in a match that had thus far been completely one-sided.
The Bears kept their composure and went on an impressive 13-1 run, giving them an 18-13 lead. After a series of Pepperdine miscues and errors, Cal won the third set once again in double digits, managing to temporarily slow down the resurging Waves.
It was a bitter ending to an overall successful weekend for the Waves, finishing 2-1 with Milo setting the all-time school block record and once again making the All-Tournament team along with Kekai Crabbe, who was named Defensive Standout.
The team returns home to the friendly confines of the Firestone Fieldhouse, but it will need to regroup quickly in time to play a couple nationally-ranked teams starting tonight at 7:30. In a game you will not want to miss, airing live on ESPNU, will be Pepperdine hosting No.-10 rival USC, who seeks revenge after getting swept by the Waves in Los Angeles in the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament.
Although the team will not change its approach, Milo said you cannot help but get pumped up when facing a team like USC.
“This game has a little bit more emphasis because it’s such a big game against our cross-town rivals,” she said. “We got a tough night ahead of us.”
On Saturday, Pepperdine plays an alumni match at 3:30 p.m., followed by yet another challenging game against No.-14 Purdue at 7 p.m.
09-14-2006