SPENCER THURLING
Staff Writer
In just her second season on the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team, Rachel Lumsden is creating quite a buzz. After breaking through to the varsity squad last year, Lumsden has people talking about high hopes of this season and the future of the Waves.
Lumsden is a fascinating person both on and off the court. Her unique talent coupled with her one of a kind personality makes her one of the most dynamic players on the team.
The question is: who is the person behind the No. 6 jersey?
As a club player Lumsden raked in the honors at the Junior Olympics. Her teams won the gold and bronze medals in the 2002 and 2003 Junior Olympics. She won All-Tournament honors in both the 2002 and 2006 Junior Olympics.
“Everything just came easy for her, baseball, tennis, you name it. She’s a natural athlete,” says her father Brian Lumsden.
Little did she know her future coach at Pepperdine had already started taking an interest in her talent.
“I started watching her in 8th grade… her body type and her skills caught my interest,” said Pepperdine head coach Nina Matthies.
The Olinda High School graduate was selected as one of the top 50 most sought after recruits in the nation for her outstanding performance in high school. She was selected to the all-state team on two separate occasions. She also racked up other awards within her conference and league, including the league’s most valuable player. Thanks to her various school records, she was honored by having her high school number retired.
Not only has Lumsden played on the varsity squad here at Pepperdine the last two years, but she has started both seasons. This year Lumsden was leading the team in aces until she suffered a knee injury last month. Last season, as a freshman, she received All-West Coast Conference, honorable mention and was named to the West Coast conference All-Freshman team. Her kills per game ranked her 11th in the conference and first among freshmen.
Her hometown is Long Beach, Calif., and it’s easy to say that the athletic gene runs in her family. Her Father, Brian Lumsden, played basketball at Fresno State and her older sister Brittani is senior on the University of Nevada Las Vegas volleyball team. Lumsden played against her older sister this pre-season. When asked about the match-up with her older sister she said, “we won!”
“We trash talked each other quite a bit,” said Brittani Lumsden about the two of them before and during the game.
Brittani said that the chatter among the two of them was mostly jokes, keeping kept both of them from getting overly tense during the game. She enjoys the prospect of playing her little sister in the NCAA tournament. She says it would be good because it would be her “last chance to play her.” No matter what happens during the season the two sisters are always happy for each other.
“It’s very frustrating when they play each other, because you never know if you should clap or not when one of them does good,” says Brian Lumsden.
Lumsden holds immense respect for her teammates. She says she looks to “all team members for different aspects of leadership and teamwork.”
Some players are funny, others are serious, and Lumsden said she believes that the combination of all of these personalities is what has driven the Waves to be such a tight-knit group.
“She’s a goofball,” says Brittani Lumsden jokingly about her little sister. “She will do anything to keep you laughing.”
Laughter keeps those around her both in good spirits and focused.
“You can laugh at her all day,” says Lecca Roberts, a teammate. “She doesn’t care what people think about her, she just laughs it off.”
Lumsden had a difficult choice for college. Because of being ranked as a top 50 recruit, many schools were interested. Ultimately, she decided on Pepperdine because it was one of her “top three” choices and the fact that it was close to home made Pepperdine a perfect fit. One of the things that attracted her to Pepperdine was the style of coaching.
“I love the coaches,” Lumsden says. She said she likes how they are able to work hard while having fun during the process.
Lumsden says the team has set several goals for this season. Among these goals are winning the West Coast Conference and returning to the NCAA tournament to avenge their first round elimination last season. She realizes there is a lot of pressure put on her team because of the early season rankings that picked them to win the conference.
“It puts a big target on us,” she said.
Coach Matthies said that what makes Lumsden so fun to coach is her “exuberance and love for the game.”
Off the court Lumsden enjoys a few of hobbies and activities, mostly dealing with sports.
“I love sports,” she said.
During the season her life is mostly consumed with school and volleyball. In the off-season she likes to spend time with her family by going to the beach and just relaxing at home. Rachel also enjoys country music. Her favorite music group is Rascal Flatts. She said she likes the way their voices blend, and the happy kind of message that they usually portray. The reason that Rachel spends so little time alone is that she is a team-oriented person who places the team’s interests before her own.
Unfortunately, Lumsden suffered an injury to her left knee while chasing a ball in a match last month against Gonzaga. A collision with a fellow teammate sent her to the ground landing directly on her left kneecap.
“It’s been frustrating for her to be out at the top of her game,” says her father.
“She’s a major part of this team, and we’ve missed her,” said senior Lecca Roberts. Lumsden has been working back into the rotation in recent games. Her first game back from the injury was against UC Santa Barbara.
“She did well…she’s just slowly working her way back into it,” said Roberts.
The future looks bright for this already shimmering star. Rachael Lumsden looks like she is going to have another great season despite suffering an injury. The Waves hope she can help them finish strong and win the coveted West Coast Conference crown.
12-06-2007
