GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
Pepperdine’s men’s volleyball team began the defense of its national title by taking down a pair of opponents at home over the weekend. The third-ranked Waves handled University of Stanford and University of the Pacific in four sets each to get off to a hot start.
In Friday’s home opener, Pepperdine defeated Stanford 30-26, 30-18, 29-31, 30-24 thanks to a solid all-around performance by Jon Grobe, who finished with 17 kills and 12 digs in his first career start.
Senior middle blocker Andy Hein added 15 kills, hitting at a .737 clip for the Waves. He also had six blocks before going down late in the third set with an ankle injury, stepping on the foot of a Cardinal player who came under the net going for a kill.
Head Coach Marv Dunphy was unsure of the timetable for Hein’s return but said it was unlikely he would play in the match this weekend.
“I haven’t seen him since it happened,” Dunphy said. “He didn’t play on Saturday. If he were to play, he’s certainly not going to be anywhere near what he’s capable of doing. I doubt that he would play and if he did, he would be, at best, 75 percent.”
Freshman Paul Carroll and junior John Parfitt each had 12 blocks, and junior Tom Hulse notched 10 kills of his own on the night. Pepperdine sophomore setter Jonathan Winder tallied 58 assists.
Winder came up big again in Pepperdine’s second match of the weekend, but on defense rather than offense. He had a pair of huge solo blocks in the fourth and final game against UOP on Saturday night as Pepperdine won 30-23, 30-20, 26-30, 32-30.
Playing without Hein, the Waves struggled on defense, getting out-blocked 18.5-12.5 in the match. However, Winder’s two blocks were the difference.
With the Tigers up 29-28, Winder blocked an attack by himself to tie the game up. Then, with the game knotted at 30 and Pepperdine serving, Winder blocked another Cardinal attack to swing the lead and the momentum back to the Waves’ side at 31-30. Another team block sealed the victory for the Waves.
Dunphy said Winder’s blocks were part of a key defensive scoring run that steadied a back-and-forth affair.
“You know both teams were siding out pretty well,” Dunphy said. “It was back and forth all night long. They’ve got two pretty good outside hitters, a guy from Germany and one from Finland who were hitting good shots all night, but in that fourth game, Jonathan got them. I thought at some point somebody would score points off transition or defense. I’m just glad that it was our blocking and not theirs.”
Pepperdine’s two wins at home over the weekend stretched its home win-streak to 16 matches, dating back to the 2004 season. As a result, both games had attendances of more than 1,000, including 1,800 at the home opener against Stanford.
“I thought the crowds on both nights were great, and you know, I couldn’t have asked for more from them,” Dunphy said. “If we put a good product out on the floor and they like volleyball, we can keep it up. I was just real happy with the crowds. It was really a neat atmosphere.”
Four Waves finished with double-figure kill totals, led by Carroll who slammed home 21 attacks. Parfitt followed with 17, Grobe had 14 and Hulse added 12 kills for the Waves. Winder notched 64 assists in the victory.
Pepperdine will finish its first homestand of the season when they host University of California, Irvine on Friday at Firestone Fieldhouse. The match begins at 7 p.m. Dunphy said the team needs to step up its game to beat a tough, experienced UC Irvine team.
“They’re really good,” Dunphy said. “They just knocked off UCLA in three sets. I voted them No.1. They have everybody back, they’re a real steady team we’re going to have to play a lot better than we did this past weekend.”
01-19-2006