Photo courtesy Athletic Dept.
Members of the Pepperdine baseball team jump into a dogpile after winning the WCC Championship.
Baseball
The Pepperdine baseball team won its 14th West Coast Conference championship with a 12-10 win over Loyola Marymount University. The team came back from a 10-3 deficit by scoring nine runs in its final two at-bats.
Junior Steve Kleen earned the save and also had a big night at the plate, scoring three runs and driving in five more.
In the NCAA Regionals, Pepperdine started off strong by upsetting No. 1 seed Arizona State University 15-5 in the opener. Junior Kea Kometani pitched eight solid innings, and freshman Chad Tracy hit a three-run homer and five RBIs, and he scored four runs.
The win pitted Pepperdine against host Cal State Fullerton. Senior Cory Brightwell hit a two-out, two-run home run in the 10th inning to give the Waves a 7-6 victory over the Titans.
The Waves only needed one win to advance, but Fullerton came back and won the next two games 16-3 amd 15-1 to end Pepperdine’s season. David Uribes hit a solo home run to account for Pepperdine’s only run.
Women’s Tennis
The Waves captured their 16th WCC title in 17 years with a 5-2 victory over University of San Diego in late April to qualify for the NCAA tournament. In the first round, No. 37 Pepperdine upset No. 18 Brigham Young University 4-2.
Pepperdine battled BYU to capture the doubles point, and Caroline Raba and Lise Sissler won their singles points. Natalie Braverman won the No. 1 singles point to clinch the victory for the Waves.
In the second round, Pepperdine fell to No. 9 and host UCLA 4-2, ending the Waves’ season at 15-10. The win was UCLA’s second in as many years over the Waves in the NCAA Tournament.
Pepperdine earned the doubles point. The No. 5 singles match was the clincher for the Bruins, as Lauren Fisher defeated Merve Asimigil 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Braverman went on to be the lone Pepperdine player represented in the 2004 Women’s NCAA Singles Tennis Championships. She was eliminated in the first round by No. 4 Amber Lui of Stanford University, the 2004 NCAA team champions.
Men’s Tennis
Following the lead of the women’s team, the men’s team also won the WCC title, its 15th consecutive championship.
Pedro Rico, the 2004 WCC Player of the Year, defeated No. 1 singles for University of San Diego, Pierrick Ysern, in straight sets for the top singles point.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Waves opened with a 4-0 win over Fresno State University. Pepperdine took the doubles point.
The No. 6 singles spot was the clincher for Pepperdine, as Richard Johnson defeated the Bulldogs’ Sergiu Modoc 6-3, 7-5.
The Waves then took on No. 4 seed UCLA. The Bruins captured the match 4-0, ending Pepperdine’s season at 19-9.
UCLA clinched the doubles point by taking two of the three doubles matches. The No. 3 singles match was the clinching match for the Bruins, as Chris Lam defeated Pepperdine’s Alexandre Herrera 6-4, 7-6(2).
In NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Singles Championships, No. 21 Rico upset No. 4 seed Catalin Gard of Mississippi by scores of 7-5, 7-6.
Rico advanced all the way to the Sweet 16, where he fell to No. 11 Michael Kogan from Tulane University 6-2, 6-2. Earlier in the season, Kogan beat Rico 6-3, 6-3.
In the NCAA doubles championships, Rico and senior Calle Hansen advanced up to the quarterfinals, where they lost to KC Corkery and Sam Warburg of Stanford. The match scores were 6-3, 6-4.
Men’s Volleyball
In the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs, the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team defeated Cal State Northridge in the first round in three games.
In Fred Winters’ last match as a Wave at Firestone Fieldhouse, he had a career-high six service aces, three block solos and 18 kills.
The Waves then traveled to BYU to compete in the Final Four. Top-ranked BYU defeated Pepperdine 3-2, ending the Waves’ season at 19-9. The game scores were 27-30, 30-27, 27-30, 30-24 and 12-15.
Winters had 23 kills in his last Pepperdine match, and Sean Rooney added 24 kills. Andy Hein, the lead blocker for the Waves last season, pounded 14 kills in the loss, and James Ka added seven kills and 11 digs.
Setter John Mayer had 67 set assists and seven digs. In the last game of their first year, John Parfitt registered five kills and Tanner Sutherland added seven digs.
Winters ended his career with 1,525 total kills, including 456 last season.
In the final American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Waves were ranked No. 4 nationally.
Rooney and Winters were both named first team All-Americans, the third time for Rooney and the second for Winters. Long Beach State added three of its players to the first team. Pepperdine also had four players named to the MPSF All-Academic team.
After graduation, Winters competed with Team Canada, but the team did not qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Women’s Golf
The Pepperdine women’s golf team finished the NCAA West Regional Championships in 12th place out of 21 teams.
The finish was four strokes short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Prior to the NCAA West Regionals, Pepperdine won its fourth-straight WCC championship.
Carolina Llano was the top finisher for the Waves. She tied for 18th place with a three-day total of 222, 6-over par.
Eileen Vargas finished tied for 25th place with a 224 three-day total, and Rachel Kyono finished tied for 41st place.
Llano was named a second team All-American for the 2003-2004 season.
Men’s Golf
The men’s golf team also won the WCC championships, its sixth straight title. The team was given a No. 10 seed going into the NCAA West Regional Championships, where it finished ninth thanks to shooting the low round of the day on the third day of competition.
Michael Putnam shot a 3-under par 69 on the last day of competition. He finished tied for sixth place in the competition.
In the NCAA Championships, the Waves finished in 10th place at the competition in Hot Springs, Va. Putnam placed fourth with a 4-under finish. It was the second highest finish in history by a Pepperdine player in the NCAA Championships.
Putnam and Brian O’Flahrety were named All-Americans for the Waves. Putnam made the second team and O’Flahrety received an honorable recognition.
Putnam remained busy over the summer, winning the Pacific Coast Amateur after a three-man playoff. He also helped Team USA clinch a victory over Japan at the 2004 Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship.
Sports Schedule
Look here for all the upcoming local professional sports and college football games. All games listed are in the Los Angeles area. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Web sites listed:
L.A. Dodgers
http://www.ladodgers.com
Sept. 7 vs. Arizona 7:10 p.m.
Sept. 8 vs. Arizona 7:10 p.m.
Sept. 9 vs. Arizona 7:10 p.m.
UCLA Bruins
http://www.uclabruins.com
Sept. 4 vs. Oklahoma State University
at the Rose Bowl, 12:30 p.m.
USC Trojans
http://www.usctrojans.com
Sept. 11 vs. Colorado State University
at L.A. Coliseum, 5 p.m
08-30-2004