Women's Volleyball to Face Tough Road Test
10/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Oct. 20, 2004
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team enters its toughest stretch of the season this weekend as its next four opponents are ranked in the USA Today/AVCA top 25. The weekend opens at No. 22 San Diego, which currently leads the West Coast Conference (WCC) with a 5-0-league record.
Junior Katy Daly leads the Pepperdine (5-9, 3-2 WCC) attack, averaging 4.30 kills per contest. The 6-foot-1 Daly has led the team in kills in 11 matches this season including nine of the last 10. Senior Christina Hinds is coming off her second 30-dig performance of the season and is now just 42 shy of moving into second all-time.
Defensively the Waves have started to pull together and have three players who are averaging more than a block a contest in WCC play. The trio of Sophia Milo (1.56), Kristin McClune (1.17) and Lecca Roberts (1.45) have accounted for 65 blocks through five matches.
San Diego (12-4, 5-0 WCC) is led by Devon Forster who is averaging a league-leading 5.41 kills-per-game and has a team-best 23 service aces. Setter Linsey Sheburne leads the WCC at 14.00 assists-per-game, while Jackie Bernardin is sixth in the conference in digs, averaging 4.12.
Santa Clara (12-4, 3-2) enters the weekend ranked 19th in the latest poll. Annalisa Muratore leads the Gaels with 3.34 kills-per-game, while Caroline Walters is second in the WCC at 4.57 digs-per-game. Sunday's 3:00 p.m. (PDT) first-serve will be televised by CSTV (Adelphia channel 119, DirectTV channel 610) as the Sunday Night Spikes AVCA Match of the Week.
Pepperdine will be looking to snap a pair of losing streaks this weekend as it is 0-4 on televised matches - USC, Colorado State, Hawaii (twice) - and winless in six attempts against ranked opponents.
The next four matches and five of the next six are against ranked opponents. First serve for Friday's match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. first-serve.
