Dominance in the water isn’t new for Pepperdine Women’s Swim and Dive team – it’s becoming program tradition.
After securing their third conference title in the past four years with the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship, the Waves want to continue building the legacy down at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
“We’re just very fortunate, and we are very grateful that we’re able to keep doing this and do it at such a high level,” Head Coach Ellie Monobe said. “It’s going to be a showstopper year, I can already feel it.”
This Year’s Focus
Monobe said one of the reasons she has high expectations for this season is because her squad is senior-heavy. There are 13 seniors graduating at the end of this year, and it’s a special group for Monobe in her fourth year as head coach.
“This class was my first fully recruited, from day one class,” Monobe said. “It is very bittersweet. It is a reminder of how far we’ve come.”
Before Monobe says goodbye to this year’s seniors, she said she’s excited to see how the year unfolds for them. The coach feels confident in her senior leaders, as they are the ones who have set the tone for the program’s culture and withheld it through major milestones.
Monobe said one of these seniors is team captain Anna Ryan, who swims the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and relays.
“Anna has been an integral part of our team,” Monobe said. “She just embodies what a student-athlete should be here at Pepperdine, both in the classroom, in the pool and also in her life and community.”
In her final year as a Wave, Ryan said she wants to lead her team to more success in the water – whether that be on the diving boards or off the block. While swim and dive can typically be viewed as individualistic sports, this year’s team is focused on being just that – a team.
“It doesn’t take just one swimmer, it’s a team effort,” Monobe said. “We really focus on that. Having that familial kind of support – on the deck, in the water, in the locker rooms, in the community – it really elevates our program.”
This team support comes in many ways, shapes and forms. For Ryan, she said it looks like supporting her teammates in their heats while giving her all in this final year.
“I’m just trying to leave it all out there, leave every ounce of my mind, body and spirit in this pool, and focus on the day-to-day, soak up all the memories,” Ryan said.
Team bonding has been a huge part of this year’s program, Ryan said. Whether her team is pushing each other in the weight room or in the classroom, they are all sticking together and showing up for one another.
“They’re basically this huge family,” Diving Coach Monique Demaisip said. “They really get behind each other and support each other, which I think creates this team environment in such individual sports. Their support and that energy is always what leads to success.”
This support is built around the team’s values for this year. As the program tries to build off their athletic and academic success from last season, Ryan said they have three pillars they rely on.
“Courage, tradition and presence – those are the three,” Ryan said. “It’s really about showing up, working hard and showing them that we’re ready.”
The seniors aren’t the only integral returners for the Waves this year. While the swimmers and divers do the work in the water, the program’s coaches are driving their team to success.
Monobe earned MPSF Swim Coach of the Year honors after capturing the conference title last season, according to Pepperdine Athletics. Demaisip earned the MPSF Diving Coach of the Year honor, as well.
Assistant Coach Dan Marella has also been a huge part of the Waves’ success, Monobe said. Marella has been crucial in the recruiting process, helping to bring commits to Malibu that continue building the culture.
Many of these recruits are making their waves in the pool this season, as the team spots six freshmen on the roster this year. While the youngsters continue to settle into their new college life, Monobe said she’s already liking what she’s seeing.
“We’re very excited to see all of them kind of come into the fold,” Monobe said. “We’ve kind of told them that they need to make an impact right away, and they’ve shown that.”
First Meet, Early Success
The team held their first meet of the year Sept. 27 down at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool for their annual Blue & Orange Intrasquad Meet.
Pepperdine’s team split into different squads for the school’s respective colors. While the Blue team came out victorious, the event proved to be an overall success for the energy it brought out, members and coaches of the program said.
“Swimming and diving is so individualistic, but when you can have that energy on a full day, it just really feeds into the competition,” Monobe said.
The event kicked off with one-meter diving. The diving squad has five representatives, but only four competed with senior Vivian Vallely out on injury.
The other four competitors were made up of three seniors and one freshman. Vallely earned MPSF Diver of the Year honors last season, according to Pepperdine Athletics, but her teammates are helping to support the team while she recovers.
“It’s a great balance,” Demaisip said. “We’re already off to a good start, a stronger start than previous years.”
While the dive team dynamic has been a bit of an adjustment across the classes, Demaisip said her team is thriving. The seniors are able to provide mentorship to their freshman teammate while also being pushed to work on cleaner dives.
“It was my first Pepperdine meet, and it was a lot of fun,” freshman diver Jackie Johnson said. “I was super excited to be able to get up on the boards and compete for the blue team and the Waves in general.”
Johnson was the top diver of the day, posting a final score of 227.80 through six dives. She was closely followed by senior Amanda Wong, who scored 227.70.
“The power is there, the comfort, comfortability and even confidence at this point in this year, I would say, was there,” Demaisip said. “That was pretty exciting to see, and it makes me excited for the rest of the season.”
The rest of the meet was focused on the 14 swimming events. Monobe said there’s always room for improvement, but she is proud of what her team did in the water.
“I thought we had some great swims from our returners,” Monobe said. “It shows the athletic depth and also the leadership coming from our returners.”
One of these standout swimmers of the day was Ryan, who won the 50 free and 100 free while being on the winning 200 medley and 3×100 free relays.
“We graduated a very elite sprinter last year, and Anna got a chance to spend a lot of time working with her and under her tutelage,” Monobe said. “It’s nice to see Anna step up and take over her roles on the relays and also just dominating our sprint events.”
Junior Layla Busquets was also a notable swimmer of the day, Monobe said. She won the 50-yard backstroke as well as swimming for the winning 200 medley team.
“She’s looking very sharp and swimming in the fly and the backstroke, especially her backstroke,” Monobe said. “It’s been really promising and exciting to see our sprinters perform at that level already.”
The underclassmen had great showings for the Waves in their first meet of the season. Sophomore Emma Guglielmello was the 800 and 300 free champion, with fellow sophomore Sophia Ware winning the 150 fly by almost two seconds and a time of 1:35.15. Ware was also a part of the winning 200 medley team with Ryan and Busquets.
Freshmen Sophia Blietz and Aliyah Fan brought in some points for the Orange team. Blietz was the 150 back champion with a time of 1:32.47, while Fan won the 50 butterfly and 150 free.
While posting some good times is always a positive of the meet, Ryan said the main goal is always to improve.
“It’s about working through the kinks, so then when we get to next week, we’re ready to go,” Ryan said. “I thought it was a great performance across the board, so I’m feeling good.”
Every day brings new challenges, perspectives and success. As the team takes each day as it comes, the underclassmen are soaking up this final season with the class of 2026.
“We are senior heavy this year, so I just want to take in and learn as much as I can from the leaders that we have on this team,” Johnson said.
The team will host the Rodionoff Invite Oct. 3-4 to kick off the season. Instead of being divided to compete against each other, the Waves will work together in an attempt to start their season off on the right foot.
“We expect big things this season,” Monobe said. “Hopefully keep a lot of wins here at home and go into conference with a lot of grit and do the best that we can.”
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