DAVID TESIC/Assistant Photo Editor
SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Online Editor
Paul Carroll is back.
The All-American on the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team returned to the squad from a hand injury Wednesday and helped the Waves snap No.-3 Long Beach State’s perfect record with a remarkable 3-0 victory.
Carroll, who missed eight matches due to a fractured right hand, said he is happy to be back although it took him a little while to adjust to the speed.
“It felt good,” said the junior opposite. “The guys were pumped up, and everybody had a great game.”
Although Carroll did not start the match, he came back on the court for the first time in four weeks when he replaced junior Matt McKee at the end of the first game. Carroll had no kill in that game but earned 13 kills on 27 swings in the second and third games.
Head Coach Marv Dunphy said it was nice to finally have the team’s offensive leader back on the team after his long absent.
“He was a little rusty,” said Dunphy, laughing. “But obviously he is a real fine player, and it’s important for us to have him.”
Another All-American on the squad, senior Jonathan Winder, also said Carroll was rusty but he brought the intensity back to the team with his powerful spikes.
Carroll’s performance did not represent the top of his game, but the Waves started to look as strong as they were when they began the season with a No.-2 ranking.
“It feels good,” Winder said. “We’ve practiced really hard and dealt with a lot of stuff. It was our first good win.”
Two weeks ago, it was Long Beach State that dominated the Waves with a 3-0 convincing win at its home court. Dunphy said the players have been practicing really well and getting better since the loss Jan. 30.
“The last couple of matches, we played really well but just didn’t get a win and stand out,” he said. “Tonight, I think we sided out really well, we hit really well. We didn’t block a ton, but we’ll take it.”
With the win, Pepperdine ended a two-match losing streak and improved to 6-5 overall and 6-5 in MPSF play, while Long Beach State dropped to 9-1, 7-1.
With Carroll playing on the court, the Waves are 3-0 this season.
The bad news is, he still has to wear a wrist guard to protect his hand.
“I got X-rays on Monday, and they said it’s recovered fully,” Carroll said. “But they said I should wear it just for precaution for the next couple of weeks.”
The good news is, he is back and even has room to improve.
On Saturday night, the Waves lost to No.-4 UCLA in a four-set match (30-28, 30-24, 22-30, 30-26) at Pauley Pavilion.
Dunphy said his team played the Bruins better on the road than they did at Firestone Fieldhouse.
“One we slowed down the middle, we knew they were going to go outside,” he said. “We just weren’t able to stop them on a regular basis.”
Junior Mark Hulse said the team started out a little bit shaky, which led to some hitting errors. He also said they were able to stop the quick-set play UCLA used to dominate the Waves at home a couple of weeks ago.
“[The quick-set] was a lot less effective,” he said. “We stopped them from beating us with what they did last time, but they beat us on the outside. It happens.”
Freshman Cory Rieks led the Waves with season-high 24 kills, hit .385 and added 5 digs.
“The guys and the coaches have been really helpful,” Rieks said. “Just getting me from completely new to the college scene to being able to compete on this level.”
Winder had 49 assists and 8 digs while junior middle blocker Eric Liebert added 11 blocks.
Next up, the Waves host UC San Diego on Saturday at 2 p.m.
02-14-2008
