ZACH ENGLUND
Sports Assistant
The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team has forgotten how to lose.
Once again flexing their muscles, the Waves defended home turf over the weekend by dismantling Stanford, 3-0 (30-14, 30-22, 30-23) on Thursday, followed by a win against No.9-ranked Pacific, 3-1 (24-30, 32-30, 30-22, 30-21) the very next night.
An unstoppable force lately, top-ranked Pepperdine has won 10 consecutive games, giving them a 13-1 record on the near-flawless season.
“I hate go to back to my philosophy, but these games are only tests of where we are at this time,” said Head Coach Marv Dunphy, referring to the win streak. “We’ve passed 10 consecutive tests, but the key for us is to be playing well come playoff time.”
The Waves’ match against Stanford on Thursday was completely one-sided, as The Cardinal lost by seven or more points in all three sets of the game, which took just 75 minutes to transpire.
Sophomore outside hitter Paul Carroll led the way for Pepperdine with 15 kills on .423 hitting in a game that Stanford (1-15) had little chance of winning before play even started. Fellow sophomore outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach chipped in with nine kills along with three service aces, while senior middle blocker Tom Hulse did his part on defense with a team-high seven blocks.
Friday’s game against No. 9-ranked Pacific proved to be more competitive, as the Waves were able to recover from a sluggish start and win the hard-fought match in front of yet another electric crowd in Firestone Fieldhouse.
Carroll again played well for the Waves with a game-high 26 kills, and senior middle blocker Tom Hulse led the defense with a remarkable 13 blocks, tying the fifth-best performance in school history.
In game one, Pacific showed everyone in attendance why they shouldn’t be taken lightly, trading points with the Waves and later building a six-point lead at 23-17. Seeming flustered and taken aback by the Tiger’s level of play, Pepperdine couldn’t gather itself in time and fell behind in the match, 0-1.
The Waves, showing their experience, gathered themselves and started game two on an 8-2 run, rejuvenating the hushed crowd and throwing the pressure right back on the Tigers. However, Pacific remained undaunted by the clamor and responded with a 7-1 run to knot the score at nine-all.
Both juggernauts went back and forth en route to a 30-all tie, as fans stood in anticipation of a thrilling finish to a game not even Pepperdine could afford to concede. With the set up for grabs, it was the Waves who came up big and fended off the Tigers, tying the contest at one game each.
With the momentum now on their side, the Waves came out firing in with a 9-4 run in game three behind a deafening crowd, still pumped up from the set before. Yet Pacific would once again hold their composure and answer back with a 6-1 run to bring the game to a stalemate at 10-all. With neither team taking control throughout the set, Pepperdine stepped it up late and took a 24-19 lead, a deficit that the Tigers couldn’t come back from, giving the Waves a 2-1 advantage in the match.
After trailing in game four at 6-5, Pepperdine went on a 5-0 run that put the Tigers on the brink of surrender. The Waves, who continually made plays on defense when it counted, aptly ended the game on a duel block by senior hitters Greg Gaudino and Jon Grobe, giving Pepperdine their tenth-straight victory.
A big reason why the Waves have been so dominant lately is the continual great play of Carroll, who says the team knows not to get caught up in wins and loses throughout the season.
“We really try and take it one game at a time,” he said. “We had some streaks last year, so we started to play kind of cocky and it hurt us. Now, we’re trying smarter about it and prepare for each game as well as we can.”
Another contributing factor to the teams success has been the fan support during the home stand, something that Carroll says the team does not take for granted.
“The fans have been excellent,” he said. “A lot of other teams don’t have the same fan support that we do, and we’re fortunate to have it.”
03-01-2007