The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team won their home opener tonight against a formidable Rice squad continuing to ride their hot streak after a victory over Tulane last week.
Despite a rough 0-2 start at the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic in Albuquerque the Lady Waves finished Friday’s match with a victory and have seemingly righted their ship with tonight’s ASIC Classic start. Although there were a few close calls tonight the Waves finished off the Wwls 3-0 (25-20 25-22 25-15) making it their 6th straight set victory.
The match started slowly for Pepperdine as both teams went back and forth early on. Strong discipline by the Waves proved to eventually be too much for the Owls to handle. The second game seemed to mimic the first in many ways as the Waves’ stability ultimately wore down Rice resulting in another error that secured the game once more. The final game was dominated by Pepperdine from start to finish with Rice’s energy and spirits running on empty.
Junior middle blockers Kim Hill continued her strong start to her highly anticipated season recording her first double-double on Friday. Hill is the school’s all-time hitting-percentage leader and her leadership will be pivotal to the team’s success as the season progresses. Hill received a lot of help from her fellow teammates as well as sophomore middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm recorded 12 kills and freshman Kellie Woolever provided a lot of support with 35 saves.
The team looks to continue their winning ways tomorrow morning against Eastern Washington in Firestone Fieldhouse at 10:30 AM. Following their morning match the Lady Wave’s will look to finish off their host tournament with a victory over the Missouri Tiger’s squad at 7:30 p.m.