ZACH ENGLUND
Sports Assistant
In Firestone Fieldhouse, the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team is awfully hard to play against, but once they venture out on enemy territory, it is a completely different story. The Waves are 6-3 at home, and a dismal 2-7 on the road.
“I really don’t know what it is,” said senior middle blocker Sophia Milo about the team’s woes away from Malibu. “I guess when you’re on the road things can be a little out of whack with your routine, and the younger players are kind of getting used to that still.”
After sweeping conference rivals UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Clara last weekend in Malibu, Pepperdine (8-10, 4-3) had its momentum come to an abrupt and sour end Thursday, losing to conference foe Loyola Maramount (16-6, 4-3 WCC) on the road in heartbreaking fashion.
The Waves looked like a team that had just played some of its best volleyball of the year the week before, hitting .600 with nine kills right out of the gate, while taking a 15-10 lead in the first set. For whatever reason, Pepperdine seemed to lose composure at that point, committing five unforced errors, leading to a five-point advantage for LMU.
After going back and forth while trading runs, both teams were locked at 27 apiece. Then, with the Waves leading 30-29, it appeared that the Lions hit the ball too far, giving Pepperdine the set, but the line judge ruled that a Pepperdine player hit the net during the play, erasing the victory for the Waves and giving LMU another chance at triumph with the score tied at 30. The Lions would take the next two points and win the hard-fought set, 32-30, seemingly knocking the wind out of a once confident Waves team.
With the momentum completely on its side, LMU took an early advantage in the second set, 13-10, but Pepperdine would score the next three points and tie the game at 13. The Lions followed with a 3-0 run of their own, but the Waves, not to be outdone, went on a 5-2 run and once again tied the set at 22. With Pepperdine within one at 28-27, LMU crushed the Waves’ hopes of a comeback, winning the set, 30-28, and taking a 2-0 lead going into the locker room at the break.
After two demoralizing finishes, Pepperdine could have easily packed its bags and called it quits. Instead, the Waves gave the Lions another run for their money in the third set, keeping it close at 11 apiece. They would later trail, 27-21, before making one final stand in an attempt to regain the swagger they came in with, going on a 5-0 run and coming within a point of LMU. Following the pattern, the Waves again came up painfully short, losing to the Lions, 30-27, in what was their third straight loss on the load, all of which came by a sweep.
Milo did not hold back in her assessment of how the team played against LMU.
“We struggled, as a team, in every aspect of the game,” she said. “We couldn’t get it together at all.”
Outside hitter Julie Rubenstein shared in Milo’s assessment.
“Whenever we put pressure on the other teams, we’re able to create points,” she said. “With LMU, we weren’t able to do that.”
The Waves’ next few games are on the road this weekend against Gonzaga and Portland, two teams they have historically dominated, and Pepperdine is hoping to use those matches as a springboard to help them finish strong as the season winds down.
“We’re looking to pretty much win the rest of our matches,” said an optimistic Rubenstein. “Every single game, from this point on, is huge for us.”
10-26-2006