By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
Different weekend, same results.
The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team continued its roll over conference opponents this weekend at Firestone Fieldhouse, beating St. Mary’s and the University of San Diego in 3-game matches. The wins moved the Waves to 13-6 overall and 6-0 in West Coast Conference play.
On Friday the Waves took on a much-improved squad from St. Mary’s. And though they did not play the flawless match they did two weeks ago at Santa Clara, the team emerged victorious by the scores of 30-24, 30-28, 30-21.
Leading the way were junior middle blocker Lyndsey Haché and sophomore outside hitter Brie Harris finished with 16 kills apiece.
“It was a little bit of a struggle for us, we weren’t all there,” Haché said. But we didn’t get frazzled and freak out. We dealt with it as a team, and I think that was really good for us.”
The Waves offensive attack was efficient, hitting .417 for the match, compared to just .236 for the Gales. The team also dominated at the net, recording 11 team blocks. Haché and senior middle blocker Stacey Rouwenhorst each finished with five.
Against the USD Toreros, the Waves came out fired up and never looked back. They led for nearly every minute of the match, winning in three games 30-28, 30-22, 30-25.
The victory snapped a USD six-match winning streak and extended the Waves conference unbeaten streak to 21. Pepperdine has also won 20 out of its last 21 home matches.
The multi-faceted Wave offense continued its impressive play, as four players tallied double-digit kill totals. Junior outside hitter Wilkins had a team-high 22 kills, followed by Rouwenhorst (13), Haché (11) and Harris (10). Team defense was also on point, finishing the match with 61 digs and a minimal amount of errors.
Senior setter Paola Rodriguez and her understudy, freshman setter Melissa Mehlhorn, split time during the match because of a back injury Rodriguez had suffered before the match against St. Mary’s. They recorded 30 and 25 assists respectively.
Head Coach Nina Matthies said Mehlhorn’s ability to fill in for a talented and experienced player like Rodriguez has been a huge asset to the team.
“I’m comfortable with either one in the game,” Matthies said. “(Mehlhorn) is learning a lot right now from Paola … she’s got great tutelage … I use her whenever I need her, and sometimes when I don’t.”
Mehlhorn agreed that the chance to play behind a second-year starter has been invaluable.
“(Rodriguez has) been really helpful,” Mehlhorn said. “She’s been able to pass a lot of her experience on to me, and she’s always giving me advice during games which is a big help.”
After dropping just one game in six conference matches, the Waves seem firmly in place to repeat as conference champions. According to Haché, the team is taking each one of its matches very seriously, hoping to repeat their undefeated conference performance of a year ago.
“It’s such a pride thing for us now,” the junior said. “After going 14-0 and being conference champions last year, we want so much to do that again and hold onto that title.
“It’s a matter of taking care of business every night and not looking past any matches,” Haché continued. “We know we need to focus on every match we play.”
Matthies said her team’s strength has been in its consistency.
“We’ve been very steady, not up and down, and that’s a sign of a good team,” Matthies said. “I think there is a good, quiet sense of confidence about us … we’re very efficient.”
The Waves hope to maintain their effectiveness as they catch a flight to the Pacific Northwest this weekend to face conference opponents Portland and Gonzaga. Then they return to California to take on the undefeated University of California-Santa Barbara Gauchos (21-0) away from home. The Gauchos are currently ranked 5th in the nation.
The match expects to be the team’s toughest in recent weeks, but Matthies is confident her team will respond, even if they face early adversity.
“We’ll be fine. We’ve done a good job of battling throughout the year,” she said.
Haché said that unlike matches against top-ranked opponents earlier in the season, the Waves won’t be happy with just a good effort against UCSB.
“We’re looking not to take anymore losses before the NCAA tournament,” Haché said. “If we lose to them it’s going to be a big disappointment. We want to carry what we’ve been showing in conference to those matches.”
October 31, 2002