Sophomore middle blocker Ella Piskorz serves the ball against USD on Sept. 25 in Firestone Fieldhouse. The week prior, Piskorz earned her second WCC Defensive Player of the Week. Photos by Britreyunna Harper
Pepperdine started West Coast Conference play at Firestone Fieldhouse with a 1-1 record. After a 3-1 loss against the University of San Diego Toreros on Sept. 25, the Waves bounced back against the Seattle University Redhawks with a swift 3-0 victory Sept. 27.
“The ball is in our court in a lot of ways,” Head Coach Scott Wong said. “We need to focus on us, and we don’t need to worry about other teams. We have to get better. We have to have some urgency in our practice gym, to compete, to grow, to develop and to keep on connecting as a team.”
Coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Sun Devil Classic, freshman setter Tristen Raymond and sophomore middle blocker Ella Piskorz received WCC honors. Raymond was awarded Setter of the Week and Piskorz Defensive Player of the Week, according to the West Coast Conference.
“It means a lot to me,” Piskorz said. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it. We’ve played really tough, and I’m just super grateful for the award.”
Wong said he is proud of Raymond and Piskorz for what they are accomplishing.
“The individual athlete awards come with the focus of the team and growth and development,” Wong said. “Obviously, those two have been doing a lot for us, and they will continue to do a lot for us.”
San Diego entered the season ranked first in the Preseason WCC Coaches’ Poll, while Pepperdine came in at second, according to the West Coast Conference.
The Waves dropped the first set 25-20 but were able to build and maintain a lead to win the second set off an ace from junior setter Brynne McGhie.
“Our offense figured it out in the second set,” Raymond said. “Defense could have been a bit better, especially with it being our first conference game.”
After a back-and-forth set, the third went to the Toreros 25-19. The fourth set was a dominant performance for San Diego, closing out the match 25-11.
Despite the outcome of the game, sophomore outside hitter Chloe Pravednikov said she believes there was something to be taken from the loss.
“We really learned what we need to do to come back from a good team when we’re down that far,” Pravednikov said. “Making changes earlier on and just not going off on our own and staying together.”
Sophomore outside hitter Chloe Pravednikov goes up for a hit against USD on Sept. 25 in Firestone Fieldhouse. The WCC All-Freshman Team honoree ended the night with 11 kills against the Toreros.
After having a day to reset, the Waves looked to get to .500 against Seattle.
This is Seattle’s first season playing in the West Coast Conference after previously competing in the Western Athletic Conference, according to Pepperdine Athletics. Even though these teams don’t typically face off, Wong said that doesn’t pose a problem.
“We got to see all their matches from this year,” Wong said. “So we’ve had a chance to see that they’re a good team with a good offense.”
The Redhawks got off to a hot start, but the Waves pulled together for the win. A tip from Piskorz won the first set for the Waves 25-20. The second set saw much of the same as the first, ending 25-18 Pepperdine.
The third set saw domination from Pepperdine on both offense and defense, putting a double-digit gap between Seattle. Back-to-back blocks from Raymond and three aces from Pisorkz helped put the set away 25-15.
Piskorz said they can use this first week of conference play as a starting point for the next stretch of the season.
“We learned that we need to be more aggressive and willing to never give up,” Piskorz said. “It’s important we remember that looking forward.”
The Waves now sit at an even 2-2 after a 3-0 victory over San Francisco on Oct. 2 and a 1-3 loss to Santa Clara on Oct. 4.
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Contact Addison Thomas by email: addison.thomas@pepperdine.edu
