Pepperdine Women’s Beach Volleyball approached the middle of their season and hosted three schools in the Asics Classic.
Pepperdine hosted the Asics Classic at the Pepperdine Beach Courts from March 21 to March 22, and Pepperdine played four games over the course of two days. The Waves entered the Asics Classic with a 5-6 record on the season.
The Waves opened the weekend against the University of South Florida, the team they would also play in the final matchup of the weekend.
Pepperdine won three out of their five matchups against South Florida and gave up two to beat the Bulls 3-2.
Junior Gabriella Perez and senior Madison Oriskovich won two sets to one. Junior Emi Erickson and redshirt freshman Deanie Woodruff, as well as senior Kate Clermont and senior McKenna Thomas, won their games in a two-set sweep.
Later that day, Pepperdine faced off with Concordia University Irvine. The Waves lost the matchup against the Golden Eagles 4-1.
Erickson and Woodruff were the only duo from the Waves to win at their courts against Concordia. The pair won the first and third sets of their matchup, falling to Concordia and splitting the Waves’ schedule for the first day.
Pepperdine opened their second day of matchups against Vanguard University. The Waves had a dominant two-set sweep in all five of their matchups against the Lions.
Clermont and Thomas, as well as Oriskovich and Perez, took their second win of the weekend against Vanguard, while Erickson and Woodruff improved to three wins and zero losses. Freshman Emma Eden and graduate Ella Foti, along with redshirt junior Emma Bubelis and graduate Marley Johnson, took their first wins of the weekend.
For their final game of the Asics Classic, Pepperdine played the second part of their matchup against South Florida.
Oriskovich and Perez improved to their third win of the weekend after beating the Bulls in three sets, improving to 3-1 on the weekend. Eden and Foti swept the Bulls the second time around and finished the day 2-0, with sweeps in both wins.
Erickson and Woodruff beat the Bulls again, this time in three sets, and were the only duo from the Waves to go 4-0 over the weekend.
Clermont and Thomas, along with Bubelis and Johnson, lost their matchups in three sets.
The Waves improve to an 8-7 record, their first time sitting at a positive record this season since their first win of the season against Vanguard.
Pepperdine’s next matchup is against the University of Portland on March 28, the first matchup in the WCC Midseason Challenge.
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Email Nick Charkhedian: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu
