GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
Pepperdine’s women’s volleyball team may have had other things on its mind Friday night when it played at Loyola Marymount University, but the players were able to focus enough to hand the Lions a 3-1 defeat on LMU senior night.
Junior middle blocker Sophia Milo set the career record for block assists on a night when LMU’s seniors were supposed to be honored as the Waves won 30-23, 12-30, 30-25, 30-27.
Milo, who notched five block assists, moved past Carrie Romer into the top spot all-time with 308 in her outstanding career. Milo also hit .379 while tying for the team lead in kills with 17.
Senior Katy Daly was the other player with 17 kills on the night and sophomore middle blocker Lecca Roberts pitched in 11. Senior Melissa Mehlhorn recorded 17 digs on the night. The Lions’ Emily Day led all players with 19 kills on the night as LMU outhit the Waves .207 to .175.
Despite the victory and the record-setting performance, Milo said the team didn’t bring the fire it normally would into a match, especially in the second game.
“We didn’t play with the same level of intensity that we’ve had in the past few weeks,” Milo said, “but we were still disciplined enough to win.”
The victory catapulted Pepperdine to 15-11 overall and an 8-4 record in the West Coast Conference and into a three-way tie for second place with University of San Diego and Saint Mary’s College.
The Waves will try to secure an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament as they take on Gonzaga University and University of Portland in the northwest this weekend. University of Santa Clara has secured the WCC’s automatic berth by clinching the regular-season conference championship.
Pepperdine will find out Nov. 27 if it made the tournament, but first the Waves have to make sure they get past two pesky opponents up North. Milo said the team is trying to get back its swagger before taking on the two WCC foes.
“We’re going to be planning on walking into the gym with the confidence that we can beat them both,” Milo said.
In the first meetings against the two teams, Pepperdine swept both matches at home. Pepperdine has won 21 straight matches against the Pilots. All-time against Gonzaga and Portland, Pepperdine has a combined record of 69-5.
11-17-2005