Women’s Volleyball
Noah Godwin
Assistant Sports Editor
The Waves’ vacation last weekend was spoiled by close losses to No. 6 Hawaii, a team that is still undefeated at 10-0.
Junior outside hitter Katy Daly had 25 kills to lead the Waves in a 3-0 loss Friday. Hawaii took the first game 30-28 following two Waves errors that cost them a game that once led 19-13.
Pepperdine then got off to a slow start in the second game, trailing 8-4. Hawaii saw that lead disappear as the Waves took a 16-15 lead. Hawaii closed the game out with a 6-1 run to win 30-26.
“We had a legitimate chance to win almost every game over the weekend, but we just didn’t come up with the big plays when we needed them,” senior outside hitter Kristen Shultz said.
The Rainbow Wahine controlled the entire third and final game of the night. Although they never led in the game, the Waves kept it close. Hawaii’s 27-22 lead all but disappeared after a 5-2 spurt by Pepperdine.
Hawaii completed the sweep with a 30-27 win in game three.
A large crowd of 7,377 was on hand Saturday to witness the 1,000th match for Hawaii Head Coach Dave Shoji.
Daly and the Waves responded well, but Hawaii proved to be too much once again.
Daly had her sixth double-double of the year with 17 kills and 20 digs, but the Waves fell 3-1.
Hawaii hit .366 to dominate the first game. Pepperdine, in contrast, hit only .091 during that span, and the 30-14 score also reflected Hawaii’s dominance in the first game.
Hawaii’s only lead in game two came at 1-0. The Waves battled to a 28-24 lead before winning the game 30-27.
Pepperdine continued to play well following intermission. The game was tied at 14-14, and the following point by Hawaii was its first lead since early in game two.
Hawaii’s 8-4 run to finish the game was too much for the Waves team, and the Rainbow Wahine took game three 30-25.
“They are certainly a good team, but I think we all felt like we didn’t play our best,” Shulz said.
Pepperdine once again got off to a good start in game four with a lead of 7-6. With the score 18-15 and both the game and the match still very much undecided, Hawaii ripped off a 5-2 run to essentially finish off the Waves. The Rainbow Wahine took the decisive game four 30-23.
Hawaii natives Lecca Roberts and Kekai Crabbe had big performances in their return home.
Roberts, a freshman middle blocker, had 10 kills in the match.
Sophomore libero Kekai Crabbe stole the show, though, with 32 digs in the match. The school record is 33, which Kristina Hinds reached earlier this season.
“We wanted to give them a better homecoming than we did, but it was good to see them make some big contributions.
Junior setter Melissa Mehlhorn had her fifth double-double of the year with 50 assists and 10 digs.
Shultz continued an impressive senior campaign in registering her fourth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 22 digs.
The matches were the first time Pepperdine played as an unranked team in 81 ranking periods.
Pepperdine will now put its 42-match conference win streak on the line Friday against University of San Francisco. That streak goes back to the end of the 2000 season.
The Dons are 7-9 on the year and have a three-match winning streak.
One of the biggest matches of the year in the West Coast Conference is Saturday when the Waves play at Saint Mary’s College.
Saint Mary’s has raced to its best start in school history (10-1). The only loss came to University of Utah.
Saint Mary’s is 14th in the nation in blocks with 3.33 blocks-per-game.
Lindsey Bogason leads the Gaels’ attack with 155 kills this season.
“We’re all excited about continuing our unbeaten streak in conference play,” Shultz said.
“I’ve never lost a conference game here at Pepperdine, and I don’t expect to start now.”
Pepperdine has dominated both series under Head Coach Nina Matthies.
Since Matthies’ arrival, Pepperdine is a combined 70-2 against San Francisco and Saint Mary’s.
09-30-2004