ZACH ENGLUND
Staff Writer
They came into the weekend having won four in a row, and with the way they have been playing lately, another successful weekend seemed almost inevitable for the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team. After two tough wins on the road against Saint Mary’s and San Francisco, Head Coach Nina Matthies said her Waves could not be playing any better.
“We’re playing terrific volleyball,” Matthies said. “I feel we’ve really settled in and are very confident right now. Fantastic weekend.”
The great weekend started with a trip to Moraga, Calif., where Saint Mary’s (9-13, 4-7 WCC) tried its best to slow down the surging Waves (14-10, 10-3). The Gaels came awfully close, but not close enough, with Pepperdine winning the nail-biter, 3-2 (30-19, 25-30, 30-18, 28-30, 15-11).
Pepperdine wasted no time establishing itself in the game, taking a 5-1 lead to begin the first set, but the Gaels would stay with it and tie the score at 6-all. The Waves would later take a 15-11 lead, and Saint Mary’s would come no closer than that through the rest of the set.
The Gaels would respond with an inspired performance in the second set, taking a 14-8 lead over the Waves after being completely shut down in the first set. Although Pepperdine would come within one at 26-25, Saint Mary’s would go on to tie the match at 1-1.
After going into the locker room with a disappointing effort in the second match, the Waves would come out sizzling in the third, scoring the first six points on their way to a decisive third-set win.
After such a dominating performance by the Waves in the previous set, the game seemed to be all but over, yet the Gaels refused to give in. With the score tied at 26-all it was anyone’s game to win, with neither team taking much of a lead throughout the game. This time the Gaels would finish strong, tying the match at 2-2 and forcing a final set to decide the contest.
Both teams would trade point after point on the way to an 8-all tie, but the Waves were not about to let the game slip out of their hands, as they stayed poised and took control at the end, winning the set and the tightly contested match.
“We pulled it out,” Matthies said. “It was a good battle for us. We needed to be pushed.”
With the Waves’ confidence sky high after the dramatic victory, they would travel to San Francisco to take on the Dons (21-8, 5-7 WCC). Although San Francisco was a tougher opponent on paper than St. Mary’s, they provided little resistance to the unstoppable Waves, who went on to win the match fairly convincingly, 3-1 (30-27, 23-30, 30-20, 30-20).
With the Dons leading by one at 15-14 in the first set, Pepperdine would go on a 4-0 run and take a lead they would not give up, leading to a 1-0 advantage in the match.
Set two was a completely different story for San Francisco, responding to the thrashing with an impressive showing in the second set, tying the contest at 1-1.
The Waves went into the half looking to make amends for their embarrassing effort in the second set, going on a 6-1 run early on their way to winning the set and taking a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The Waves controlled play for the most part during the fourth set, finishing strong on a 13-4 run to seal the game and the match.
Pepperdine has now won six in a row, a feat that has not been accomplished since 2003, and Matthies suggests that the difference between their success now and their struggles early in the season is the team’s increased focus on every game.
“We’ve really matured,” Matthies said. “The team understands that we can’t afford to lose at this point and are really understanding the importance of every game. Everything is coming together.”
With the only three games remaining on the season being ranked opponents, Matthies knows that a strong finish won’t be easy, starting at home against Loyola Marymount tonight, which is also Senior Night, at 7 p.m.
“This next game is huge for us,” she said. “We need to take care of business.”
11-16-2006