Photo by Allison Hubbard
The women’s volleyball team began conference play with a rocky start, coming off 0-2 this weekend. The team faced Santa Clara (6-4) Thursday night and the University of San Francisco (5-7) Saturday afternoon.
The Waves (6-4) faced some challenges in their first two WCC matches of the season.
Santa Clara handed the Waves their first conference loss on Thursday night, splitting 1-3 with scores of 21-25, 29-27, 23-25 and 23-25.
“I thought we played hard against Santa Clara. It came down to details,” sophomore Taylor Racich said.
Teammate senior Kelley Larsen agreed that small mistakes grew insurmountable through the match.
“We struggled in a few key areas and were not able to successfully deliver,” Larsen said.
Junior Katie Messing led the team with 17 kills, followed by Racich and Larsen with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Junior Samantha Cash tallied eight blocks, and sophomore Becca Strehlow had five. She also contributed 42 set assists and 22 digs, while freshman Jillian Bergeson had 20 digs and Racich had three service aces.
Saturday brought another loss for the Waves in their match against San Francisco.
“USF was a tough loss because it went to five games,” Racich said. “They got a run in the beginning, which gave them the momentum to take the win.”
The Waves fell to USF 2-3 in a five-set battle, finishing 25-16, 22-25, 26-24, 25-14 and 6-15.
Messing led the team in kills with a career-high of 20, while Larsen and Cash recorded 16 and 12, respectively. Freshman Brooke Honeycutt had a team-high of six blocks, Bergeson notched 21 digs and Strehlow added 18 digs and 35 set assists.
“We fought hard, and I am really excited to get back in the gym this week,” Racich said.
The Waves play two away matches this week against Portland Thursday night and Gonzaga Saturday afternoon.
“It was a tough week and, unfortunately, we didn’t come out on top,” Larsen added, “but we learned a lot as a team from these past two matches, and we are putting the losses behind us.”
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Follow Alenni Nemitz on Twitter: @alooney_toons94
As published in the Sept. 26 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
