Spice Girls music was blaring over the loud speaker Willy the Wave was bobbing up and down and the stadium was filling up which could only mean one thing; championship volleyball was on the way.
The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team took on the Missouri Tigers Saturday night for the Asics classic tournament championship- a match that for all intents and purposes lived up to it’s billing.
Pepperdine started the first game on fire jumping out to a quick 9-4 lead. But then the Tigers woke up. The Waves called a timeout after an offensive onslaught by Missouri a strategic maneuver with short term benefits. After withstanding Missouri’s initial push the game went back and forth until the Waves failed to convert on a game winning point. Unfortunately when the Tigers got the same opportunity moments later they capitalized.
Down 1-0 Pepperdine began the 2nd game with a greater sense of urgency aware of how quickly Missouri could put them away. After another stretch of quick back and forth’s Pepperdine pulled away at the end and junior middle blocker Kim Hill finished off the set 25-21. The third set proved to be a pivotal momentum changer as Missouri took the lead early and never let go ending with a Lisa Henning kill to make the score 25-21.
The Wave’s 2010 Asics Tournament campaign came to an end in the fourth set as Missouri squeaked by in extra points 27-25. Pepperdine showed a lot of resiliency with their backs against the wall but in the end the undefeated Tigers were simply the better team on Saturday night.
Though the Waves fell back to .500 this weekend’s tournament was full of good signs and improvements amongst the veteran leaders as well as the freshmen. At this juncture in the season more emphasis is put on gelling and chemistry than strict records. Pepperdine fans have a lot to look forward to as their Lady Waves continue to improve and prepare for inter-league play.