The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team hosted St. Mary’s College Thursday in the first match of the West Coast Conference play. The Waves were swept in three games by the Gaels 14-25 16-25 and 22-25 making their official WCC record 0-1 and overall record 7-6. They were able to end their four-game losing streak in their game against San Diego the following Saturday.
Senior opposite Rachel Grochmal led the Waves’ offensive with 11 kills. However no other Wave tallied more than five kills throughout the match.
The Waves were led defensively by senior setter Kiah Fiers who had 11 digs and two blocking assists. Sophomore libero Stevi Robinson who is currently leading the WCC in digs and service aces had 10 digs.
The first game of the match was close at the start with the Waves leading 9-8. But after a crucial combination of a block and kill the Gaels closed the tie and focused on clinching the first game. The Gaels went on a 4-0 run over the Waves a second run at 3-0 and a third run at 6-0 almost sealing the game at 21-12 with the Waves down. The game ended with a 14-25 loss for the Waves.
The Gaels began the second game with a furious lead at 11-4 which they quickly increased to a 15-5 lead over the Waves. After the Waves burned their two timeouts they came back with a fight to close the gap by three points. At 15-18 the Waves were catching up but St. Mary’s called a timeout and the Waves eventually fell 16-25.
After a 2-1 lead over the Gaels in the third and final game the Waves would not see the lead again after the Gaels scored three points to take control of the game. The game went point-to-point until 9-8 when Shannon Lowell of the Gaels scored three service aces. Along with the aces the Gaels scored two additional points putting them ahead by six.
The game ended with a 25-22 Gales win in the first game of conference play. Before this loss the Waves were 36-8 overall against the St Mary’s and had only allowed the Gaels two wins in the Firestone Fieldhouse.
After the loss to St. Mary’s on Thursday the Waves bounced back and won their second home match in the WCC against San Diego 25-18 25-23 and 25-23 on Saturday. San Diego is currently tied for first with St. Mary’s in the WCC.
The Waves offense was led by Grochmal who had 14 kills and six digs while sophomore outside hitter Lilla Frederick had 13 kills and seven digs. Setter Kiah Fiers had 36 assists as well as six digs.Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Racich hit .429 with nine kills and 21 hitting attempts total.
The first game began with the Waves and the Toreros knotted at 5-5 but with a kill and an ace by Racich the Waves got the momentum they needed to pull ahead. At 8-5 the Waves went on a 6-0 run over the Toreros bringing the score to 14-6. The game went point for point until the Waves closed the game at 25-18.
In the second game a crucial hitting error by USD put the Waves ahead at 20-19. A kill by Racich and another USD hitting error put the Waves up at 23-21 and a kill by Grochmal ended the set with the Waves on top 25-23.
The final game of the match began with the Waves in a four-point hole. At 10-14 with the Toreros up the Waves set their sights on a sweep and tied the score at 16.
Both teams pushed for the victory but at 22-22 a Grochmal kill and a service ace by freshman middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm put the Waves at match point. The Toreros were able to hold off the Waves’ victory by one point but Grochmal ended the match with a kill sealing the score 25-23.
Sophomore opposite Kristen Seaton saw team-wide development over the course of the match against USD.
I’m glad we finally clicked and figured out how to fight for a win Seaton said.
Next, the Waves will travel north to play Gonzaga tonight and Portland on Saturday.
