SHUHEI MATSUO
Assitant Sports Editor
For the past couple of weeks the national rankings did not mean anything for the Pepperdine water polo team. The Waves captured an 8-7 victory over upper-ranked Loyola Marymount on Thursday. However, they then suffered in the pool Sunday when they lost a 12-11 game to lower-ranked Long Beach State.
Since LMU is not in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Thursday’s win did not affect Pepperdine’s MPSF record.
“Obviously, it’s not something that we are happy about,” junior centerback Dorian Beaney said after Sunday’s game. “I think we were looking beyond Long Beach State, and we were definitely ready to play, but I think we assumed that we would walk all over them and that it would be an easier game than it really was.”
As Beaney and other Waves assumed, the team dominated the 49ers — but only during the first half. Long Beach came back with three consecutive goals during the fourth quarter and swam away from the Waves by one goal.
Beaney said the main cause of Pepperdine’s fall was lack of team play in the second half of the match.
“We started playing more as individuals, not as a team that we practiced, and that’s what eventually killed us,” he said.
The loss dropped Pepperdine to 12-15 overall and 1-4 for MPSF, while Long Beach improved to 8-14 and 1-5.
To get into the MPSF tournament that begins on Nov. 24, Pepperdine needs to win at least one of the next three games. However, two of those teams — UCLA and University of Southern California — are two Top 3 teams in the nation.
The other one is UC Santa Barbara, a team that defeated Pepperdine in all three games this season.
Despite this tough situation, Beaney said the Waves are capable of making it to the MPSF tournament. However, it depends on a couple of things, which some of them are out of their control, he added.
Long Beach would have to lose to Irvine in a conference match, which is likely to happen according to their standings.
More importantly, Pepperdine just needs one win in the remainder of the regular season.
Knowing that the Pepperdine crew is facing two of the toughest teams in the country, Beaney was honest about his feelings.
“Obviously, USC and UCLA aren’t really within reach for us right now,” he said. “We are shooting for Santa Barbara, and that’s what we are training for. And if we can win that game, if should be able to almost secure a spot for MPSF.”
Pepperdine hosts both UCLA and USC this weekend. The Waves face the Bruins on Saturday and meet the Trojans on Sunday with both matches scheduled for noon.
“We are not expected to win, we are not even thinking that we are going to win (against UCLA and USC) right now,” Beaney said.
It may be difficult for the Waves to beat those teams, but they are at least facing them at home, which may help Pepperdine perform a miracle.
“If something happens and we do win,” Beaney said, “that would be fantastic.”
11-09-2006